The Best Outdoor Flooring For Uneven Surfaces

When going through a renovation or new build it’s very easy (and common) to put more focus on the interior design of your home, and less consideration to outdoor flooring options. From driveways to walkways, alfresco areas, balconies, and pool surrounds; it is important to pay attention to the exterior as well since it’s where a lot of the fun happens – barbecues, poolside parties, front yard/backyard gatherings, just to name a few.

One of the most important aspects of the exterior of a home is the flooring, and there are lots of options out there. It’s common especially when renovating for there to be uneven surfaces outside and finding the best flooring for uneven surfaces can be challenging, but never fear, some options are near!

X-Bond Microcement

Don’t like the condition, colour, or look of your existing concrete slab? X-Bond it. Don’t like the look of your outdated tiles on your balcony? X-Bond it.

Microcement is a popular flooring choice for external applications, especially if you’re not happy with the appearance of your existing concrete slab. The X-Bond Microcement is a water-based, cementitious overlay system that combines stone and liquid polymer that is hand trowelled over your existing concrete or tiled floor. X-Bond will still provide you with a concrete-looking aesthetic, however, you have a choice from a range of different colours. The beauty about X-Bond is that you can have it running from the inside of your house to the external areas of your house allowing you to seamlessly integrate your different living spaces.

Due to X-Bond being hand trowelled, the finish has visible trowel marks creating texture, tonal, and color variation. For floor surfaces, the finishing could be X-Bond Seamless Stone; a rustic look as it is left in its natural form, X-Bond Polished Stone; sanded to create a polished concrete look, X-Bond Mineral Finish; sprayed onto the existing surface with a spray gun creating a splattered look or X-Bond Blade; applied with a blade which creates texture to achieve a high slip rating.

Click here to find out more about X-Bond, including a list of frequently answered questions.

Permeable Paving

Permeable Paving is becoming an increasingly popular choice for external floor surfaces. Permeable Paving is a porous flooring solution where natural stones are hand trowelled over a permeable substrate to create a smooth, textured finish that allows water to flow directly into the ground through the surface. It is applied on site, over permeable concrete, concrete or crushed rock. Permeable paving consists of natural stones mixed with an epoxy binder. These stones are then hand trowelled over the existing substrate to create a seamless, textured, and even floor finish. These natural stones come in various colours from white to green, grey, charcoal and brown and in sizes ranging from 2-8mm.

Permeable Paving is suitable for a range of applications, including floors, parks, around trees, footpaths, garden paths, car parks/garages, driveways, bicycle trails, terraces, balconies, and swimming pools. 

There are many benefits to having a water-permeable floor finish. We’ve seen across Europe, and now in Australia, councils are seeking for permeable / porous paving to be used as it brings with it many benefits. Porous paving re-establishes a more natural hydrologic balance and reduces runoff volume by trapping and slowly releasing precipitation into the ground instead of allowing it to flow into storm drains and out to receiving waters. As the water is drained through the stones, it helps to prevent flooding and feeds water to the soil underneath, which also brings many benefits to buildings.

To find out more about Permeable Paving, click here.