What we build with
Marble, pebble and quartz bound seamless
Natural stone locked in clear binder and troweled down as one drainable sheet.
Natural stone locked in clear binder and troweled down as one drainable sheet.
White marble chip is the one most people picture. It is angular, it reads bright beside a pale house and it is the coolest looking of the three under a Florida sun. Rounded river pebble is coarser and larger. It gives a spa feel and it hides sand and leaf litter well, which suits a screened patio. Quartz is the fine one. The grains are small and even, so the finish is tighter underfoot and kinder to bare feet and small children. Size decides as much as colour here. Larger stone drains faster and reads rougher. Smaller stone lays flatter and sweeps cleaner. We put a sample board down in your own light before anything gets mixed.
A stone carpet is full of small voids by design. Rain lands on it and drops through the stone to the slab, then leaves by the fall that is already there. That is why a deck laid this way does not hold the sheet of water you get on smooth pavers after a July storm. It also means splash out from the pool stops sitting in one dark patch that has gone green by August. Two things keep it working. The slab underneath has to drain somewhere, which we check with a straightedge and a hose at the measurement. And the surface needs a rinse now and then, because sand, sunscreen and grass clippings are what block the voids, never the stone itself.
Stone is stone. What separates a deck that still looks right in year five from one that sheds grit into the skimmer is the resin around it and how carefully it was measured. We weigh binder on a scale at the job instead of pouring it by eye out of a jug. Too little and stones let go at the edges where people step off. Too much and the surface turns glassy, which is the last thing you want beside water. Heat and humidity move the working time, so on an August morning the crew mixes smaller batches and moves faster. The binder we use is built to stay clear in direct sun, because cheap resin turns amber on a south facing deck in one summer.
1We visit within 24 hours, measure and hand you a fixed price.
2Pick the blend and the depth. We repair the base so it holds.
3Poured, cured and walkable in 24 to 48 hours.
Not if the binder ratio is right and the stone was clean and dry when it went down. Every grain is coated and locked to its neighbours, so the surface behaves as one sheet rather than as loose gravel. Where a deck does shed, it is almost always a resin starved mix or stone laid over a damp slab. Both of those are avoidable on the day.
It is easier than a dark smooth surface, because the texture holds air and the pale blends throw light back instead of soaking it up. Marble chip and light quartz are the ones to pick if the deck faces south with no shade at all. Anything in direct Florida sun at 2pm has heat in it. Colour, shade and stone size all change how much.
Over sound concrete yes, and that is the usual job. Pavers are a different conversation, because anything that moves under the surface will telegraph through it within a season. If the pavers are set solid we can bind over them. If they rock underfoot they come out, or a slab goes over them first. We decide that standing on it, not over the phone.
A hose and a stiff broom handle most of it. Rinse the deck when sand or sunscreen builds up, and once a year give it a proper wash so the voids stay open through storm season. Keep pressure washing gentle and hold the wand back. A narrow tip held close will cut any bound surface, stone carpet included. There is no sealing schedule to keep up with.
See finished decks and colours in real daylight on our stone carpet page.
Free on-site measurement within 24 hours. No obligation.