Brick patio in Northeastern US?

3 years ago

Hi everyone - I want to have a brick patio installed, but my contractor is advising against it. He claims it will get "destroyed" from the weather / salt / snow and that I should use pavers instead. I'm not sure if I'm buying this, I see brick everywhere. I am in northern NJ. Does anyone have experience with this?

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Comments (4)

ptreckel
3 years ago
I live in N.E. Ohio. I have THREE red brick patios in my back yard. They were installed 15 years ago. I have never had issues with them (except when a pesky chipmunk tunneled beneath a section of one patio. I had to backfill and reset the brick!). If your patios are properly built for drainage on your site, you should have no issues. Salt? I never put salt on my patios. Why? I do shovel a path for my dog in the winter…. It is all about the preparation and construction. Get another opinion.
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beesneeds
3 years ago
I think it would depend on the brick. Some brick isn't really good or up to the task and pavers would be sturdier. Sometimes salvaged or vintage brick is used and does not hold up well. But good brick that is well set should hold up as well as good pavers of the same size.

They used brick for streets in the past, and I know it isn't uncommon for some places to have old town streets with some exposure. Maybe that's where the contractor is getting the salt issues notion from? I don't think plows get run over old brick streets either, but I might be mistaken on that. But people have good brick driveways, I don't see why a patio that sees less action than that would be a problem.
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ptreckel
3 years ago
Beesneeds is spot on. You want paving brick, not face brick. Unless you know what kind of brick you are “salvaging,” you could have a problem. Check out the website of Belden Brickworks. They make a variety of bricks, including those used ON streets and patios as well as Facing brick for building. Know your brick! And…also look at the variety of colors, too. I had my red bricks laid with a herringbone center, banded with white brick, and then finished with a “trim” of red brick.
3onthetree
3 years ago
You have asked a very general question with no specific parameters about your design and spec. So a general answer is yes, in a freezing climate your contractor is correct. There is a difference in the types of bricks you can source. There is a difference between fired clay bricks vs extruded concrete pavers. There is a difference between mortar joints, sand joints, and no joints. There is a difference in flatwork vs vertical installations.