I want to demo the concrete walkway and lay down a nice brick paver walkway. I've read and watched about doing this, and overall it doesn't seem too difficult :o My problem is with 1 step at the very beginning of the current walkway (from the sidewalk onto the walkway). I don't know how to do this properly with the pavers. I have thought about putting down a railroad tie to act as a step & edging from the sidewalk, but I'm worried that this wouldn't look right. I don't want to use railroad ties for the rest, I want to use the plastic edging. Is creating a step (6-7 inches or so) with pavers difficult? (I plan to lay them dry)

After receiving 2 quotes so far (roughly the same price), I was surprised to learn that one man does not set his posts in concrete, he simply tamps back the dirt in which he dug the hole from, while the other gentleman does the typical concrete set (which I've usually seen done). The "non-concrete" guy explained that although pressure treated, the concrete will cause the post to rot. Out of curiosity, I google'd this idea, and this seems to be a hottly contested debate: fence post set in dirt/gravel or cement. I live in Central NJ. What are your thoughts/experiences with your fences, how they've held up over the years based on their post settings, and possibly advice for a 1st time home-owner. BTW, living next to small town parking lot, my fence will be subject to pretty good winds. I can see the benefit of pickets with gaps in between for less wind resistence, but for privacy reasons, we are opting for a 6' with no gap in the pickets.