Brick Pavers in Tucson

A narrower colour range than concrete, mostly reds, umbers and buffs. A smaller unit, so more laying labour per square foot and a higher installed cost. Clay is also more variable batch to batch, which matters if you ever need to match it later. And on a large modern house a small unit can read as busy where a large format paver would read as calm.

The same assembly as any other paver: compacted aggregate base over a compacted subgrade, then a thin screeded bedding layer. Clay brick is not more forgiving than concrete about base preparation, and because the units are smaller, a soft spot in the base shows up as a visible dip sooner rather than later.

Clay brick paving is genuinely long lived and it is common to see it still performing decades on, which is why it turns up on old buildings all over the world. What needs attention on a much shorter cycle is the joint sand and the edge restraint. In this climate the colour advantage compounds: the brick looks close to original long after a pigmented concrete unit has softened.

On the right building, yes, and it is not really a fashion question. Clay brick suits older Tucson houses, courtyards and entries in a way that does not date, because it is reading as a traditional material rather than as a current one. On a contemporary desert house a large format concrete or porcelain paver usually sits better.

Concrete pavers are generally cheaper, both in material and in laying labour, because the units are larger and there are fewer of them per square foot. Clay brick carries a premium on both lines. The base work underneath is identical either way, so the installed gap is proportionally smaller than the material gap suggests.

For a large patio, concrete pavers usually win on cost, on colour choice and on the calmer look of a larger unit. For a small courtyard, an entry or anything attached to an older house, clay brick often looks considerably better and the extra cost is small in absolute terms because the area is small. We install both and the recommendation follows the building.

In this market, warm neutrals: buff, sand, tan and warm grey, usually in a blend rather than a single tone. There is a practical reason as well as a taste reason, since lighter colours are markedly more comfortable underfoot in summer. Charcoal and deep browns are popular in photographs and much less popular in July.