# joint between brick pavers and slab



## phnola (Aug 15, 2010)

Hello all, 

I am a GC down in New Orleans. Hopefully y'all can follow this one. I recently got a job to pour a 17'x17' colored slab patio in the backyard of a lady's house. The homeowner had installed a brick border (concrete laid) and wanted the slab poured inside this brick border so that the surface of the slab was flush with the top of the brick border. She was very adamant about keeping the border, as she had apparently put a lot of work in to it. 

Now the brick border that she installed, while sloped in the correct direction, was not even or straight enough to use as a form for the concrete so what I did was build my own forms so that the slab would be set 5" in from the border. 

My (perhaps misguided) plan is to install my own brick border in between her brick border and the slab (she has a ton of loose bricks left over) . The bricks would obviously run parallel to the edges of the slab, with a 1/2" mortar joint between my bricks and hers, and an expansion joint between my bricks and the slab. My bricks will most likely be laid on a compacted concrete sand bed 

My question is: What type of joint would y'all recommend between my bricks and the slab? Do you think an expansion joint is necessary? Or maybe just fill the joint with stone dust? 

Thanks for any and all advice
Phil


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## MDLandscape (Oct 21, 2011)

This is based on how we do work, in our zone 4-5 climate, meaning we get some serious freeze thaws. Since freezing isn't an issue, butt everything tight--no joint. It's what we do and aesthetically it's so much better long term. Joints are a point of weakness, avoid them if possible especially since you don't have to worry about the -30f temps we get in winter. 
Hope this helps. 
www.morningdewlandscape.com


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## Premier pave (Jan 24, 2012)

Good work...

http://www.premierpave.co.uk


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## lasvegas (Apr 19, 2012)

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