We would like to cover our front porch cement with pavers, does anybody have any suggestions that would keep with the look of a 1922 bungalow? We have light colored (beige) brick pillars so it would need to go with that. We are thinking on using the saltillo mexican pavers that look kind of rustic. Would that ruin the look of our bungalow? We are painting the house in April in dark Craftsman colors and putting on a new International Craftsman door in Mahogany. Has anybody else paved over their cement porches to avoid repainting all the time?

Where are you located. I expect that tile or other sorts of pavers were pretty common in southern California, less so in other parts of the country. Part of the bungalow esthetic was to connect the indoors to the outdoors so a nicer surface outside is certainly in keeping with the idea.

We are located in Northern California. I have been searching the web for pictures to see what might be used but haven't come up with too much.

What about putting tile over your concrete floor? Might be easier than the pavers - much thinner.

Here in Alabama a lot of the concrete porches (and sunroom and bath in our last house!) have quarry tile. That's the square, dark red/clay tile you might see in a commercial or restaurant setting. I think it's typically in 5" or 6" squares. It was original for the terraces and sunroom of my 1925 and 1929 homes.

Actually, simple scored concrete was typical for porches. In my opinion, pavers on the front porch is like putting Stickley-inspired stained oak cabinets in the kitchen. Pavers would be upscaling it. Just my opinion. In my area of San Diego and in LA and Pasadena, only a very few mansions built in the arts and crafts style had bricks or tile pavers. Good luck.

In my area, wood is the only substance on front porches. Yes, it's very labor intensive. While I know what you mean about finding a surface that's easier to maintain, I'd say go with what's original.

I have to amend my previous response in light of what Scott has said. The houses in my area that feature quarry tile porches and terraces are all brick or other masonry. You don't see it on the wood-siding bungalows (although all types are mixed within the neighborhoods).

We too are in the midst of a porch re-do on our 1921 Florida bungalow, the stucco covered knee wall was concealing rotting wood, we're redoing that in shiplap - we are also replacing the original tin roof (it leaks) and doing a tongue and groove ceiling. I've located brick veneer (thin brick) at Lowes and the brick appears to be about a half inch thick, perfect for applying to the existing concrete floor without adding too much height. Here's a website: http://www.artobrick.com/ThinBrickMain.htm

I'll get some photos posted on our progress

Thanks so much for sharing that site, I took a good look at it. Our only problem is that our brick is not the typical red, it is more of a 'beige' color so I'm not sure if any of those would match. I am certainly going to look into it though because I LOVE the look of brick on walkways, porches, etc. I'm just not sure that using a different color than what we already have would look right. That's where the pavers come in. Fortunately I am in California and the website has a place not too far from us where they carry the Arto brick so I will look into it.

This may be a viable option. We actually have samples of this on our porch that we are 'trying out'. I am trying very hard to keep with the original look and all I see is cement porches (mostly) but I can't imagine that other people have not had the same problems with paint peeling and having to constantly maintain. Yikes, what to do!

I'm still shopping for my pavers too, haven't quite decided yet.....in my quest I came along this Florida site http://www.floridabrickandclaycompany.com
they have a more extensive selection than Arto.