Field Notes by Ribble Landscapes
This is where the porcelain debate gets interesting.
Because if you speak to ten landscapers, you’ll get twelve opinions.
Modern porcelain manufacturers and suppliers now heavily push dedicated slurry primers for paving installations. According to the sales pitch, every porcelain tile absolutely must be coated in specialist primer or the patio will apparently detach itself from the earth within six months.
But here’s the awkward reality:
A lot of experienced landscapers have been using SBR, cement, and water mixes for years without a single issue.
Us included.
And that’s where the debate really sits.
Because there’s a growing feeling across the industry that some modern slurry products are less about solving genuine problems and more about creating another product category to sell.
At the end of the day, what are we actually trying to achieve?
We need a strong bond between:
* the underside of the porcelain,
* and the mortar bed beneath it.
For years, many landscapers achieved exactly that using a properly mixed SBR and cement slurry brushed directly onto the back of the tile immediately before laying.
And plenty of those patios are still absolutely solid today.
- No hollow slabs.
- No lifting.
- No failures.
So it’s fair to ask:
Is modern slurry genuinely better, or simply more expensive and more heavily marketed?
Now to be clear, dedicated slurry primers absolutely work. Nobody’s denying that. Some are excellent products.
But the idea that traditional SBR slurry suddenly no longer works feels slightly revisionist to a lot of experienced installers.
Because ultimately, good porcelain installation still comes down to the fundamentals:
* solid sub-base,
* full mortar bed,
* proper falls,
* correct coverage,
* and careful laying.
A badly laid patio with premium slurry primer is still a badly laid patio.
And honestly, there’s a wider issue creeping into landscaping lately where more and more products are marketed as “essential” when in reality good workmanship still matters far more than branded buckets.
There’s also the cost factor.
Dedicated slurry products are significantly more expensive than traditional SBR mixes, especially on large projects. For homeowners already investing heavily in porcelain paving, lighting, drainage, and groundwork, those additional costs add up quickly.
Which is why many professional landscapers still stick with methods they trust.
And trust in construction matters.
Because when you’ve laid patios for years using an SBR and cement mix without failures, it becomes difficult to suddenly believe you were apparently doing everything wrong all along.
The truth probably sits somewhere in the middle.
Dedicated slurry primers are undoubtedly good products and may well offer stronger or more consistent bonding in certain situations.
But equally, properly mixed SBR slurry applied correctly is still performing perfectly well beneath thousands of patios across the UK.
Sometimes the landscaping industry behaves as though every traditional method instantly becomes obsolete the moment a manufacturer releases a new tub with better branding.
Realistically, experience still counts for a lot.
And most good landscapers will tell you the same thing:
The product matters.
But the person laying the patio matters far more.
