Shoutout to the guy who told me to pick trowel and mortar over trowel and concrete for my patio

Two summers ago I had to decide between a brick patio with sand and a poured concrete slab. My neighbor, who's been doing masonry for 30 years, said go with the brick and mortar. Said concrete cracks in our freeze-thaw cycles here in Ohio. I listened to him. It took me 3 weekends instead of one but that thing hasn't shifted or cracked at all. Last week I saw his poured concrete driveway has a big crack right down the middle. Has anyone else had good luck with brick over concrete for outdoor projects?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix9829d ago

Man I gotta disagree a little bit here. I did a poured concrete patio about 5 years ago here in Michigan and it's still holding up fine, no cracks yet. I think a lot of it depends on how good the base prep is and if you put in control joints the right way. My brother-in-law did brick with sand and his is already sinking in a couple spots after just two winters. Brick and mortar looks nice but I feel like it's way more work for something that can still fail if the ground shifts even a little. Plus once a brick pops loose you're hunting for matching ones later. Just my two cents though, glad yours worked out.

sanchez.mary29d ago

Wait, hold up @felix98... your brother-in-law's brick patio is already sinking after just two winters? That's rough. I always kind of assumed brick was more foolproof than that, but I guess it really comes down to the installation.