Is it time to choose the outdoor flooring options for your terrace? We have all the outdoor flooring options you need, including our high performance ultra-compact stone surface, Dekton.

Whether you are renovating your terrace over the next few months or building a whole new house, the choice of your outdoor flooring is an essential part of the look and functionality of your home.

The possibilities available when selecting types of outdoor flooring are endless. There are three main types: seamless outdoor flooring, floating outdoor flooring, and natural stone flooring.

Outdoor seamless flooring

Over the last few years there has been a boom in seamless flooring like polished concrete, microcement, and resins. None of these flooring options have joints, making for a clean and low maintenance look. These are the main options:

• Polished concrete: the minimum thickness of this flooring is 3 inches, meaning that it needs expansion joints every 15 square feet. While not technically a seamless flooring option, the overall look is very similar. It is a resistant and easy maintenance material.
• Microcement: this has minimal thickness and can be used both indoors and outdoors. This really is a seamless cladding and comes in a variety of colors and finishes. Its drawbacks include its comparably low stain and shock resistance, in addition to its tricky installation.
• Epoxy resins: this is a material with a similar finish to paint, it comes in a uniformed block of color, it is waterproof and exceptionally durable. The downsides are that it is very delicate when installed, it has minimal scratch resistance, and its coloring can fade.
• Seamless terrace: this is a combination of crushed stones, mainly marble, mixed with epoxy resins to help create that seamless look. After people fell out of love with terrace flagstones, this new technique has brought them back to life. 

There is a fantastic alternative to the seamless flooring options listed in this article: Dekton and its large format panels. With large 126 x 56 inch panels, the same seamless effect is created by its minimal joints.

Dekton also has unbeatable technical properties due to it being an ultra-compact high-performance surface. It is a non-porous material that has excellent stain and humidity resistance. It is simple to maintain, and any cleaning product can be applied without causing any damage; its minimal joints also help to make the surface more hygienic.

Its high mechanical resistance makes it ideal for outdoor flooring areas such as terraces or pools.

The benefits of outdoor floating flooring

This type of flooring is made up of ceramics installed on top of adjustable plinths, with minimal joints to permit water drainage. 

Outdoor floating flooring or raised flooring is used as an attractive solution for those terraces with unsightly drainage solutions. It is also an excellent option for any space that requires constant installation maintenance to be carried out, because the installations are hidden under the flooring while also being easily accessible. 

This type of flooring has several benefits such as:

• Easy installation and maintenance.
• It allows for any uneven terrace floor to be evened out.
• It allows for electrical and plumbing installations to be hidden under flagstones.
• There is a wide selection of designs and colors available.
• It aids insulation due to the layer of air that is formed beneath the surface.

Our ultra-compact Dekton stone can also be installed with this system, provided the panels are meshed.

Types of natural stone outdoor flooring 

One of the most used outdoor terrace materials is natural stone. Due to its features and unique beauty, this material is still widely used for construction and home improvements. These are the most popular natural stones used for outdoor flooring:

• Marble: this is a beautiful and highly durable calcium-based stone that adds a touch of luxury, style, and elegance to any space. Due to its high porosity, exposure to acids must be avoided at all costs. There are a variety of different colors and grains available to suit all tastes.
• Granite: this is also extremely durable and has great shock and heat resistance. Generally, it is remarkably simple to maintain and has stunning natural beauty. Its biggest drawback is that it cannot be cleaned with chemical products, as these can damage the stone, nor is it very stain resistant due to its porosity.
  Granite usually has temporary non-stain treatments applied to it, which must be reapplied once every couple of years.
• Slate: this is a material that is widely used outdoors due to its resistance to water and other elements. It is also a non-slip surface.
• Limestone: this is a pale colored stone which, like marble, is a calcium carbonate-based rock. It is a non-slip surface with high resistance to abrasiveness meaning it is commonly used for terraces and pools.

At Cosentino, we have created a fantastic alternative to natural stone: Dekton, our high-performance ultra-compact stone surface that comes with a choice of multiple finishes, many inspired on natural stone, like the new colors available in the Onirika collection, consisting of wistful marble designs. 

One of the main benefits of Dekton over natural stone is its low porosity which makes it highly resistant to stains. Additionally, thanks to the Grip+ treatment, it also offers maximum non-slip protection, making Dekton the ideal choice for wet areas like pools or terraces.

Visit one of our Cosentino Cities to be inspired and find the right outdoor flooring for your project.