Brick, pavers or bluestone?

by Jane
(New York)

Hi,
We live in a beautiful Victorian home, it is white with black trim. Currently the main staircase from the back of the home is brick & concrete (built a long time ago). We plan on installing a larger patio & resurfacing or rebuilding the stairs & installing 2 other sets of steps. My initial thought is I wanted to do a stacked stone veneer over the red brick step walls. Then cap the steps with bluestone. For the patio either pavers or bluestone. Now, I am leaning towards leaving the red brick on the walls & incorporating the brick into the patio design. Confused as to use bluestone or pavers...a friend told me her bluestone stains & chips easily so I am torn. It is so expensive & don't really want the maintanence. But now...I am wondering if I should do red brick on the patio & edge it with bluestone (sort of the reverse of my previous idea). Any insights would be appreciated!
Thanks for your assistance-
Jane

ANSWER

Hi Jane,
If the brick on the steps is in good condition, my choice would be to leave it. Do a bluestone patio and edge it with brick. If you can't find the same brick or something very close, I would eliminate the brick border altogether since it won't look right with the brick on the steps. If you could add the bluestone treads onto the brick steps, this would tie it all together.

I don't know why your friend's bluestone stains and chips. Yes, if you are going to be sloppy outside anything will stain. That goes for concrete pavers...just about anything! If it is chipping it means it was not installed correctly.

You did not tell me if you were leaning towards dry laying the bluestone or setting in concrete. Which method were you thinking about?

Bluestone is beautiful, a natural stone, is durable and long lasting. I would not hesitate to go this route. You have an old, traditional victorian home. Don't you want to stay with a natural material rather than man-made pavers?! I would.