Hi Heather, Porcelain would definitely be a good option for outdoor use as it offers a level of slip resistance that you were concerned was lacking with polished concrete. Here's a link to our outdoor range; http://www.cliftonstone.co.uk/products/outdoor-porcelain.html?limitstart=0 Something light in colour and less textured such as Massimo Blanco and Villa Blanco would give you the contemporary look you are hoping to achieve. If however you are considering a natural material, our PPX limestone has a really sleek look that has been used in a lot of our contemporary landscape projects. Here is a link to the stone on our site and a few examples of the stone in situ; http://www.cliftonstone.co.uk/products/limestone-flooring-walling-london/147/245/limestone/P-piedra-plana-extra.html If you would like to discuss any materials further, please feel free to give us a call. Best wishes and good luck with your project, Jodie

We have a similar layout but chose to lay the wood floor parallel to the sliding doors. The ends were easy to disguise under skirting boards

If replacing your patio is not something you want to consider, see if you can hire a Karcher hot washer from your local Hire shop and ask if they have a weed lance attachment for like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPH0qs_jKUA Research in Belgium has shown this to be one of the most efficient chemical free weed treatments for paving. If they don't have the special lance, the normal lance will do but turn the pressure down as you don't want to blast the mortar out from between the slabs. The temperature setting needs to be 95C at least. Looking at what you have there, it is the original old ex-council crazy paving, there is no sign of subsidence in the photos, so the substrate is good and well laid, it should last for decades. As councils no longer use these heavy slabs, as far as I know this material is no longer available but they were made to last.

@rach1922 - you are quite right that people harvesting Indian sandstone were exploited, as well as the use of child labour. For this very reason many UK suppliers have installed their own staff in their own quarries to ensure this does not happen. So basically there are companies who have total control to ensure the Stone is ethically harvested, such as Marshall’s, London Stone etc. I used Global Stone who supply many builders merchants. Sadly, we as a society exploit many people in many countries so that we can enjoy cheap clothing etc. It’s a minefield.