Dark Grey Paving Slabs

They're mostly marketing names for the same tonal family. Anthracite is the darkest of the three, sitting close to near-black with a cool undertone. Charcoal is slightly softer and often carries a hint of brown or blue depending on the batch. Dark grey is the broadest term and covers everything between mid-grey and anthracite. Because the names aren't standardised across suppliers, the only reliable way to match a tone is to order a sample and look at it in your own garden light.

Porcelain gives you a consistent colour across every slab, very low porosity and a surface that cleans easily, which is why most of our dark grey range is porcelain. Natural stone like our Kota Black Indian Limestone gives you natural variation and a warmer, less uniform look, and it's the cheaper entry point at £22.50 per m². If you want every slab to look identical, go porcelain. If you want character and movement across the patio, go natural stone.

Yes, darker surfaces absorb more heat than lighter ones, so a dark grey patio will feel warmer underfoot on a hot day than a cream or light grey one. In the UK this is rarely a practical problem, but it's worth thinking about if you have young children or dogs using the patio barefoot through summer, or if the area gets full sun all afternoon. Partial shade from a pergola or planting takes the edge off it.

Less than light paving does. Dark grey hides soil splash, leaf staining and general foot traffic marks well, which is one of the main reasons people choose it. What it does show more readily is limescale from hard water, dried rain spots and dust, so an occasional rinse keeps it looking sharp. Textured porcelain hides water marking better than a very smooth finish.

For questions about delivery times, costs, returns, or anything else about your order, head over to our main FAQs page, where we've covered all the details.