My name’s Frank, and I’ve spent better than 20 years doing brick and masonry work around Staten Island — tuckpointing old brownstones built back in the 1900s and 1910s, repointing chimneys, the occasional full brick restoration when a wall’s gone soft on one of these historic houses. But my sister-in-law lives down in Buda, just south of Austin, and every time I visit she’s got me standing in somebody’s yard sizing up a patio. Last spring it was a backyard a homeowner wanted to redo, and the question was the one I get everywhere, East Coast or Texas: brick or concrete pavers? They look close to identical in a photo. They do not behave the same under your feet, in your wallet, or in the ground — especially once you’re dealing with Hays County’s expansive clay instead of the soil I’m used to back east.
What you’re actually comparing
Real clay brick pavers are fired clay — the same material as the brick on an old house, just made thicker and denser so you can walk on it. The color runs all the way through, because it comes from the clay itself, so it doesn’t fade. Concrete pavers are molded from cement, sand, and aggregate, with pigment mixed in. They come in every shape you can dream up, from tumbled cobbles to big modern planks. Both sit on the exact same kind of base underneath — that part doesn’t change no matter which one you pick.
The base is what makes it last, not the paver
Down around Buda, that base matters more than which paver you choose. The clay soil out there swells when it rains and shrinks in a summer drought, and ground that moves like that will heave and dip a patio within a couple of seasons if it isn’t built to float on a proper base. Here’s what actually goes in the ground, every time, brick or concrete:
| Layer | What goes in |
|---|---|
| Excavation | 6 to 8 inches deep |
| Base | Compacted crushed stone |
| Bedding | 1 inch of sand |
| Surface | Pavers, then joint sand swept into the gaps |
Skip a layer or skimp on the compaction and it doesn’t matter whether you spent your money on brick or concrete — it’s coming back up on you within a couple of years.
Cost, honestly
Concrete pavers are the cheaper way in. Installed, you’re generally looking at $12 to $22 per square foot in the Austin area, depending on the paver and how fancy the pattern gets. Clay brick pavers run higher, more like $16 to $28 per square foot installed, because the material itself costs more and the units are smaller, so there’s more labor setting them.
| Paver type | Installed cost (per sq ft) | 300 sq ft patio |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete pavers | $12–$22 | $3,600–$6,600 |
| Clay brick pavers | $16–$28 | $4,800–$8,400 |
Not a small gap, but not the whole story either. Concrete pavers hold their color well, but the pigment is a surface-and-through affair that can soften over 15 to 25 years, especially under a hard Texas sun. Clay brick keeps its color essentially forever, because the color is the material, not a coating on it. If a hailstorm or a tree root cracks one paver, either type is easy to lift and swap one at a time — that’s the real edge both have over a poured concrete slab, which cracks in one big piece and stays cracked.
How brick and concrete take the Texas heat and clay
Heat is the first thing you notice. Dark concrete pavers soak up sun and get hot enough to bother bare feet on an August afternoon. Clay brick, especially in lighter tones, tends to run a touch cooler, and the natural earthy colors hide the dust that blows around out there. UV is the second thing. Texas sun is brutal on pigment, and I’ve seen budget concrete pavers go chalky and faded in under a decade while the brick laid right next to them looked the same as day one.
Then there’s the clay soil again. Both are flexible paver systems, so they ride soil movement better than a rigid slab — but only if the base and edge restraint are done right. You need solid edge restraint spiked into the ground so the field doesn’t spread over time, and you need to slope the whole patio away from the house for drainage. That’s the part of the job that actually determines whether you’re happy in five years, and if you haven’t done this kind of hardscaping before, it’s worth having people who work in mortar, brick, and paving day in and day out down in Buda walk the site with you first. If you want to think through how water moves across a yard before anyone breaks ground, the U.S. Department of Energy has decent plain-language guidance on landscaping and drainage around the home at energy.gov.
Which one I’d pick
If budget is the deciding factor and you like a modern, uniform look, concrete pavers are the sensible choice and they’ll serve you well for decades on a proper base. If you want a warm, traditional look that never fades and you’re planning to stay in the house a long time, clay brick is worth the premium. Whatever you choose, put your money into the base and the drainage, not into upgrading the paver — that’s the mistake I see homeowners make in both Staten Island and Texas. If you want the current numbers specific to that market, we put together a cost breakdown for paver patios in the Austin area that gets into it in more detail.
If the same clay sits under your driveway, that’s a different pour with its own control joints — an Austin concrete driveway contractor handles that side of it.
Questions I get asked about brick vs concrete patios
Which lasts longer, brick or concrete pavers? Both last 25-plus years on a good base, but clay brick holds its color essentially forever while concrete paver pigment can fade or soften over 15 to 25 years under strong sun. Structurally they’re similar; the difference shows up in how they look over time.
Are brick pavers worth the extra cost? If you plan to stay in the home long term and want a color that never fades, yes — the extra $4 to $8 per square foot buys you decades of good looks. If budget is tight or you want a clean modern style, concrete pavers are the smarter value.
Will a paver patio survive Texas clay soil? Yes, if it’s built as a flexible system: 6 to 8 inches of compacted crushed stone base, a bedding layer of sand, edge restraint, and proper slope for drainage. Flexible pavers ride soil movement far better than a poured slab, which cracks when the clay underneath heaves.
