Last Updated on October 20, 2026 by Umar Farooq
Techo Bloc Borealis is a wet-cast concrete line with a wood-grain face, made to look like timber planks and railroad ties without the rot. It comes as five units: a 6 x 8 x 48 inch wall and edge unit, a 6-inch-high, 48-inch-long step, 30 x 5 and 30 x 10 inch plank slabs, and a 24 x 24 inch stepping stone. On Techo-Bloc's suggested retail list for Eastern Pennsylvania, the wall unit is $78.57 each, the step $143.82, and the plank slabs work out to roughly $15 per sq ft. Your dealer's price will differ.
I read the Borealis spec sheets, Techo-Bloc's walls installation guide, its warranty and that price list, so every number below comes from one of them, and I flag my own arithmetic.
The Borealis units at a glance
| Unit | Size | Per pallet | Colors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall and edge | 6 x 8 x 48 in | 16 units, 3,042 lb | Smoked Pine, Hazelnut Brandy |
| Step | 6 x about 16 x 48 in | 8 units, 3,073 lb | Smoked Pine, Hazelnut Brandy |
| Slab 30 x 5 | 2¼ x 5 x 30 in | 68 units, 70.83 sq ft | Smoked Pine, Hazelnut Brandy, Riviera |
| Slab 30 x 10 | 2¼ x 10 x 30 in | 34 units, 70.83 sq ft | Smoked Pine, Hazelnut Brandy, Riviera |
| Stepping stone | 2¼ x 24 x 24 in | 16 units, 1,257 lb | Hazelnut Brandy |
The spec sheets allow units to vary by up to 3/16 inch in height and ½ inch in length and width, on purpose, so the wall reads like timber rather than machined block. Plan for slightly uneven joints. The slabs carry Techo-Bloc's Klean-Bloc stain-resistant surface.
The stepping stone comes in six different grain patterns, so a path of them doesn't look like one plank photocopied.
Techo Bloc Borealis price per piece
These are Techo-Bloc's suggested retail prices from its Eastern Pennsylvania price list, hosted by a dealer. The per-foot figures are my arithmetic from the pallet coverage.
| Unit | List price | Works out to |
|---|---|---|
| Wall and edge, 48 in | $78.57 each | about $19.64 per linear foot of course |
| Step, 48 in | $143.82 each | about $36 per linear foot of step |
| Slab 30 x 5 | $16.29 each | about $15.64 per sq ft |
| Slab 30 x 10 | $30.66 each | about $14.72 per sq ft |
| Stepping stone 24 x 24 | $46.79 each | about $11.70 per sq ft |
The list says the prices are "for market reference only", so compare units with them, not quotes. For scale, the same list prices Blu Grande slabs at $6.99 to $9.09 per sq ft in Smooth and HD² Smooth. Wood grain costs roughly double.
The Techo Bloc Borealis wall: low walls, edging and planters
The Borealis wall unit doubles as an edge and has no pins or keys; per Techo-Bloc's blog, it holds by the length, depth and weight of the units. For a freestanding wall, the install guide wants Flexlock adhesive on every row.
The height limits are modest. From Techo-Bloc's walls installation guide:
- Freestanding: 24 inches maximum above grade, with at least 6 inches buried, on a compacted leveling pad at least 6 inches thick.
- Retaining (vertical gravity wall): about 18 inches total height, including the buried course, in good soil with nothing heavy above.
That makes Borealis a planter, border, bench-base and low-terrace block, not a hillside block. For anything taller, the other systems in our Techo-Bloc walls guide take over.
Techo-Bloc publishes a Borealis planter build using one pallet of wall units. Its guide calls for a 6-inch base of open-graded #57 stone with a 4-inch perforated pipe (holes down), construction adhesive between courses, at least 6 inches of #57 backfill, and a fabric separator before the garden soil. Its estimate is about an hour of build time for two people, not counting the base. At list price, that pallet is roughly $1,257 of block.
Borealis steps, slabs and stepping stones
Steps. Each 48-inch step is 6 inches high and weighs about 384 lb (3,073 lb ÷ 8). Techo-Bloc sets them on a 1-inch setting bed over a compacted 0-3/4 inch base, the same detail as its other steps. A 6-inch riser is comfortably under the IRC's 7¾-inch maximum. Our guide to building steps with pavers covers the layout.
Plank slabs. At 2¼ inches thick, Borealis slabs are a pedestrian product: patios, walkways, pool surrounds and the "deck" people want without the staining. Mix the 5-inch and 10-inch widths in one field, and stagger the ends like floorboards.
Stepping stones. At 4 sq ft and about 79 lb each, they place by hand in lawn or gravel.
One catch applies to all of them. Techo-Bloc's warranty covers damage from rock salt, but it excludes Wet Cast collection products unless stated otherwise. Borealis is wet-cast. On steps that need winter de-icing, ask your dealer what the current Borealis terms say before you salt them.
Use Borealis as the accent, not the whole patio
My opinion: Techo Bloc Borealis earns its price where you look at it closely, as a planter wall, a step, a band or a strip of "boardwalk" through a patio. It's a poor choice for a whole field. The planks list at about twice the price per square foot of a plain Blu Grande slab. The walls stop at 18 to 24 inches. And a wet-cast surface isn't covered for rock salt. A Blu Grande patio with a Borealis border and planter gets the wood story across for a fraction of the spend. (Nobody has ever complained that a patio had too little concrete pretending to be oak.) We have a separate page on paver planter box if you need the specifics.
FAQ
How much does Techo-Bloc Borealis cost?
On the Eastern Pennsylvania suggested retail list, the wall unit is $78.57, the step $143.82, the 30 x 5 slab $16.29, the 30 x 10 slab $30.66 (about $15 per sq ft) and the stepping stone $46.79.
What colors does Borealis come in?
The wall, edge and step come in Smoked Pine and Hazelnut Brandy. The plank slabs add Riviera. The stepping stone is listed in Hazelnut Brandy.
How tall can a Borealis wall be?
Techo-Bloc's guide allows 24 inches above grade for a freestanding Borealis wall and about 18 inches of total height for a vertical retaining wall, in good conditions. Taller walls need a different system.
Can you drive on Borealis slabs?
No. They're 2¼-inch slabs for foot traffic.
Is Borealis real wood?
No. It's wet-cast concrete with a wood-grain texture and color. It won't rot, warp or need staining, but it's heavy: a single wall unit weighs about 190 lb.
