Will perforated bricks crack if used as outdoor pavers?
Perforated bricks with their holes facing up trap water and freeze, causing them to crack apart within a couple of seasons. Installing them outside risks a massive amount of wasted manual labor only to find out they cannot withstand waterlogging.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using traditional pavers instead of perforated bricksDid this help you?
- 2Trying to seal the bricks and fill them with water in a freezer to test durabilityDid this help you?
- 3Laying a membrane to stop the bricks from bedding into the sand over timeDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Are we safe to utilize these bricks instead of a paver?”source ↗
“The holes facing up will trap water and freeze, those bricks will crack apart in couple seasons for sure”source ↗
“If it gets water logged and freezing? I don't know but it would he a lot of work to find out if it doesnt.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 3Why is the floor by my windows freezing and wet?
- 2Can you use a plate compactor on travertine pavers?
- 17Why do freezeless outdoor faucets still freeze and burst?