I get asked that question a lot, as you can imagine. After all, Virginians love their brick homes, so I design a lot of patios for brick homes. I always look at two things: color and size/style.
Color
Color is the easiest to deal with first. If you have a red brick home I will do everything in my power to talk you out of a reddish concrete paver. The reason is simple. You will not get a match. Not gonna happen. Instead, you’ll end up looking like you attempted to match, and failed. That’s why on a house with reddish-brown brick, I recommend using a gray paver. After all, gray flagstone looks beautiful with brick, right?
Size/Shape
I will also dissuade you from selecting a brick-sized paver, like the Techo-Bloc Victorien. One reason is the same as my color reason – you’ll look like you tried to match and failed. But also, brick creates a pretty busy pattern. I prefer to use larger pavers because the size creates a pleasing contrast with the brick. If your home uses a traditional brick, the smallest size I’ll want to use is a 6″x6″ or 6″x9″ paver/paver mix.
I’m not crazy about the pavers that attempt to look like irregular flagstone as I just don’t think they pull it off successfully. When I talk about style I like the look of a tumbled paver, and possibly even a paver with a wet cast finish that looks like natural stone. Again, it’s all about creating a pleasing contrast with the brick.
The Big Exception to Matching
A lot of people don’t realize that clay pavers are an option as well as concrete pavers. They’re tough, durable, and according to the Brick Industry of America, they have a compressive strength equal to or greater than concrete pavers. So if you use a clay paver, I feel that you can match what’s on your house. Again, you just need to design it in such a way that you don’t have a ferociously busy visual that looks like a giant moire pattern from a distance.
Overwhelmed by the options? Filtering through the myriad options and selecting the best one for your home is what we do. Contact us for a consultation!