Stunning Pinwheel Brick Patio Paving for Timeless Outdoor Appeal
There are near infinite materials and patterns that you can you to design your patio. There are a wide range of levels of exoticness and levels of complexity of installation, depending on the style, layout, and material selected. Today we are looking at a low cost material installed in a moderately easy layout, and it looks pretty good considering it is not complex to build. In this article, we referred to this type of paving as a pinwheel masonry layout, but the paving isn’t really made from bricks.
This patio was built with CMU, concrete masonry units, similar to cinder blocks, but technically made with a portland type concrete and cast paver form instead of typical block form. Also, these particular pavers have a different shape and size than typical bricks.
Typical bricks are generally about 2 and 1/4 inches tall, in a stretcher position and about 7.5 inches wide with 3.5 in spread across the top, so when set into a typical paver layout those bricks are generally roughly 3.5 inches wide by 7.5 in long. But in comparison, even though there’s two different sizes of masonry units used in this layout, both of those paver unit sizes happen to be square in form across the walking surface.
Most people will compare or even conflste this particular layout with a basket weave type configuration and you can see that they actually do look very similar. Since the basket weave layout runs with an accent stripes, from the smaller stone units in tis case, set catercorner, it creates a ribbon type of visual effect.
Yet, even though it’s different, like the basket weave layout, the pinwheel layout also creates a catercorner diagonal visual band that you can see in the picture below as you look across the wider range of the field of the paving. Both of these layouts look pretty good, but they’re both a little bit different than the more typical running bond or even a common bond that you typically find in a historic wall layout.
It’s interesting, but with this kind of layout, the pattern or striping that you see with the catercorner or partially catercorner type of configuration visually changes when you’re looking at it from different angles. The picture below shows the layout from a more of a bird’s eye type of view, with less of a angle across the surface. It’s more direct and straight, head-on. That difference of position makes a visual difference because the configuration creates a different visual effect from this angle. In fact the other angle, looking across the field of the paving shows a more interesting view because the lines of the catercorner layout, in sequence, look more prominent.
In the next three pictures below, as we get increasingly closer and closer to the surface of the manufactured stone or paving blocks, you can see the individual elements of the aggregate of which the CMU’s are comprised. From a distance, it could be confused with a natural stone. Often natural stones have a variety of individual disparate pieces across their matrix.
In this specific case, there is a continuous binding material, similar to a cement paste, that holds together and surrounds the individual aggregate particles. In concrete or manufactured stone products, the substrate aggregate materials generally include sand, gravel, and crushed stone.
Until you get really close to the face of the pavers, it almost looks like there’s a grout line that runs relatively consistently between each of the individual pieces of the paving units. It is true and correct that there is a material there, but it’s actually just dust that has washed over the paver units and settled in a chamfer edge that works like a slight taper or bevel, roughly 1/4 of an inch from the edge of the Paving unit.
When the two paving units are buttered against each other, those chamfer edges meet into what becomes a very small valley that in some cases fills up with dirt and debris, especially when rainwater is repeatedly washing dirt and debris materials over top of the surface of the paving. Between the individual paving units, there’s also a intended spacing, further below that manufactured bevel.
Unlike many types of masonry or stone which are intended to sit tight to one another as close as possible, these stones are actually intended to have a spacing which allows the interstitial space between them to be filled with a sand. The sand allows for small micro movements without breaking the hard mortar joints or grout joints found between other types of paving or ground coverings. Without an interstitial intended space for variance and movement, the paving might otherwise require the installation of control joints to direct breaking towards intentional weak spots that follow in a rectilinear form.
Use a contractor who understands and cares about doing things right. Always, feel free to reach out to us here at Dupont Decks and Patios. We are happy to help with almost all steps of the deck building and design process. A backyard and outdoor space should make a significant, positive impact on both quality of life and home value. We can help with more than just decks, we also build patios, pergolas, ramadas, awnings, gazebos, arbors, and privacy fences.
Let us know about your ideas and talk to us if you have questions about possibilities. We are happy to participate in improving your outdoor space and quality of life! You can call us at (202) 774-9128. You can find us online at https://dupontdeckspatiosdc.com and you can email us there as well at https://dupontdeckspatiosdc.com/contact-us
