Senixon,
I understand your dilemma over your pavers. I happened to have found some antique pavers in my attic from a chimney that had been removed years earlier. How fortunate was that! They made a short sidewalk from the front steps to a corner of the house. Turned out great. Over time, they did settle a bit which added to the antique quality in that it wasn't perfectly flat. Because of them, I've decided to use pavers to make a patio on the opposite corner of the house. Fortunately, I found an ad in craigslist for antique pavers - used in making a tunnel from a local VA hospital to a POW camp. Imagine that! You might want to look there. At $1 each, I wouldn't have been able to afford them. But, the guy kept my email addy and wrote me back when he reduced the price to .35c each. These were chipped and I had to load them myself. In the process of going through the multiples of pallets, I've been able to gather quite a lot that are in very good condition. Since I need 1700 bricks, I realize that I have to settle for less than perfect ones as well. So, even the ones with chips and corners knicked off will also add character. As a Master Gardener, I was very impressed seeing a postage size yard that had different bricks at every corner. Undoubtedly, it was much easier for that home owner to purchase/collect/use - she may have also found them for a very good price. I was truly surprised to see how it added character. IF you decide to stay with only one paver, then you will be relegated to visiting a brick yard after all. If you were more industrious and younger than I, you could scout your area for homes/brick buildings being razed and make them an offer. Again, depending upon how industrious you are, such as removing the concrete mortar yourself, etc. Who knows? Used bricks are truly better than new ones and they could be more expensive. You'll never know until you investigate all your options. As Billie mentioned, they made their own pavers. I had recently been looking into that - mainly because I wanted to add some character to my pavers by creating a mold with a Lone Star (which is in the first paved sidewalk mentioned earlier)... reminiscent of our Texas state flag. Eventually, I decided against it but only because there's no one else to help me. You might want to give some thought to that as you could also add a particular design into your bricks, maybe initials, maybe a symbol. But, bear in mind, it won't be fast. Even at this time of year, it's not going to be a fast project as it is. Relegate your idea to being done next Spring regardless of what you decide to do. It will help to take some pressure off you as you wander though your options and make your decision... and collect all that you will need. Have you measured your area to know how many you'll need? One last thing - don't forget the 'pie' that has 3 pieces: good, fast. and cheap. You pick the two slices you want - you just can't have all three. Good luck to you as we'll both be working on our own projects.
Xtal |
