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Paving slabs buying guide

Updated: 21 October 2026

You have a patio in mind, and the first page of results has mixed a 50 mm concrete flag with a plastic tile that weighs 200 g. This paving slabs buying guide is the order to use before you spend: name the job, then the material, then the thickness, then how it is supported, then any slip number you can actually read. The ten amazon.co.uk rows in our [paving slab comparison](/hub/flooring/paving-slab) are garden pads, not British Standard flags. The Products Compared editorial team used those listings and public UK sources, and did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a patio in mind, and the first page of results has mixed a 50 mm concrete flag with a plastic tile that weighs 200 g.

Our top picks

Nicoman Nicoman rubber stone blocks, 4 pack

Best overall

Nicoman Nicoman rubber stone blocks, 4 pack
7.5/10about £35.99
View offer
Nicoman Nicoman rubber stomp stones, 4 pack

Best value

Nicoman Nicoman rubber stomp stones, 4 pack
7.0/10about £19.99
View offer
DIVCHI DIVCHI plastic stomp tiles, 4 pack

Alternative

DIVCHI DIVCHI plastic stomp tiles, 4 pack
5.3/10about £10.19
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two different buys share the name
  2. 2.Thickness follows the job
  3. 3.How the slab has to be supported
  4. 4.Slip numbers you can ask for
  5. 5.What to write down before you order

Two different buys share the name

A paving slab from a builders' merchant is a concrete flag, a natural-stone slab, or a thick outdoor porcelain paver on a compacted base. A garden pad from this amazon.co.uk set is a recycled-rubber step, a thin plastic shell, a resin disc with stakes, or small stones on a plastic mesh. The DIVCHI plastic 4-pack is listed at 200 g. The Nicoman 46 cm rubber rounds are listed at 11.17 kg for four. Neither is a BS EN 1339 flag. If the listing says place it, or snap the stake in, you are not looking at a pavement. The rubber stepping stones or real slabs page is the fork between a muddy shortcut and a level terrace.

Thickness follows the job

Pavingexpert treats 63 mm or 70 mm as the conversation once a car will cross. Save & Pave talks about 18–20 mm porcelain and about 22 mm for calibrated sandstone on a full bed, and it tells you to avoid dot-and-dab. One Turnbull porcelain slab, 600 × 900 × 20 mm, was £19.01. That is one example, not a concrete price band.
Nicoman Nicoman rubber stone blocks, 4 pack

Testsieger

Nicoman Nicoman rubber stone blocks, 4 pack
7.5/10about £35.99
View offer

How the slab has to be supported

A pedestrian patio wants a compacted sub-base and a full mortar bed, with the fall built into the base. Marshalls' porcelain guide specifies a full wet bed of about 30–40 mm, a slurry primer, and no five-spot bed. The finished surface in that guide sits at least 150 mm below the damp-proof course. Those primer rules do not apply to a rubber pad on the grass. Reviews of the Nicoman 46 cm rounds say the discs squash unless there is hardcore. Laying order is on how to lay paving slabs.

Slip numbers you can ask for

On the Bradstone British Standard paving page, concrete flags are classed with a USRV above 40, which is how that sheet marks low slip potential. R11 is a ramp class on some outdoor porcelain. None of these amazon.co.uk listings publishes a USRV or an R11 class. The DIVCHI bullets say non-slip without a test figure, and the Nicoman block listing asks whether the rubber is slip-resistant and does not answer.

What to write down before you order

Write five lines before you pay: the job, the material and the weight, the fixing, the thickness and the standard if you have left Amazon, and the slip evidence or a note that there is none. On 19 October 2026 the saved shelves ran from £6.32 for one Multy pad to £50.49 for four Buachois rounds. The 30 cm Nicoman 4-pack and 10-pack both show 4.2 from 183 reviews, one shared pool. If the five lines describe a terrace, buy a flag with a standard on the sheet. In England, more than 5 square metres between the front wall and the highway is a separate question.

Common questions

What thickness do I need for a patio that only people walk on?
For a concrete flag that people walk on, merchant sizes are commonly 50 mm thick, in 600 × 600 mm, 750 × 600 mm, and 900 × 600 mm. Porcelain is often around 20 mm and sandstone around 22 mm in trade guides, on a full bed. Those thinner slabs are not the same product as a 50 mm flag.
Do I need a slurry primer?
You need one if the product sheet for 20 mm porcelain says so. Marshalls' guide uses a primer with a full wet bed and rejects a five-spot bed. A concrete flag has its own bedding notes, and a rubber stepping stone has none of this. Primer instructions from a brand are not a substitute for the base, and they do not apply to the place-down pads in this comparison.
What does USRV or R11 actually tell me?
USRV above 40 is how the cited Bradstone concrete flags are classed as low slip potential. R11 is a ramp class on some porcelain. Both are results for a named product, not a promise that a wet shoe cannot slip, and neither number appears on these amazon.co.uk pads. A non-slip bullet without a figure is a claim you cannot check.
Are the amazon packs in the comparison these slabs?
No. The kept listings are rubber steps, plastic stomp tiles, resin rounds with stakes, and mesh-backed pebble or marble tiles. The lightest plastic pack is listed at 200 g. A BS EN 1339 flag is a merchant product with a declared standard. Use the comparison if you want a garden pad. Use a merchant if you want a patio.
When does a car change the thickness?
As soon as wheels are part of the job. Pedestrian concrete at 50 mm is the wrong starting point. Pavingexpert puts 63 mm or 70 mm into that conversation, and porcelain notes that mention cars move to something like 30 mm, still on a proper base. A resin disc at 500 g, or a rubber pad you can lift, is not a driveway surface.

Related pages

Paving a front garden

Paving slab

Best paving slabs: Nicoman blocks for a muddy path

How to lay paving slabs: a mortar bed or place-down

Rubber stepping stones vs paving slabs: which to buy

Sources

Public UK sources and amazon.co.uk listings, checked on 19 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the figures in the display file. The Turnbull porcelain price is one merchant example, not a concrete-flag band.

  1. Class F, GPDO 2015, hard surfaces (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. GOV.UK, permeable surfacing of front gardens (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. HSE, cutting paving blocks, kerbs and flags (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. HSE CIS54, dust from cutting paving (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Pavingexpert, concrete flags (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Pavingexpert, laying flags (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. BSI, BS EN 1341:2012 external natural stone slabs (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Bradstone, British Standard paving (retrieved 19 October 2026)