What Is The Best Base For A Flagstone Patio
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How to Install Flagstone Over Existing Concrete Walk and Beyond
Hermita Savitzky
How To Lay An Easy Diy Flagstone Patio
Sharing all our tips & tricks for how to lay a Fabulous & easy DIY Flagstone Patio yourself on a budget fast !
We are so close to being done with this patio project, I can hardly believe it!
Last week, I shared how we created our DIY brick patio& today I am sharing our DIY Flagstone patio.
This Pennsylvania bluestone or DIY Flagstone patio was so much easier & quicker to install than our reclaimed brick patio was & if I had to pick favorites this patio would be it!
*this post contains affiliate links for more information check out our disclosure page here*
Stone Patio Walkway Before
Before we laid the Pennsylvania bluestone or flagstone this flagstone patio walkway was an uneven, weed covered, hot tub blocking mess.
Once the hot tub was moved the walkway off our family room felt so much bigger!
We knew we wanted to keep this walkway open to improve the traffic flow & keep this DIY flagstone patio area feeling open and airy.
Heres a quick picture of what this patio looked like when we started
Why we Chose to Lay a DIY Flagstone Patio
3 Reasons we decided to use the bluestone/ flagstone for three reasons.
ONE We were not sure we had enough brick to finish this walkway.
TWO Laying the brick was EXHAUSTING & took FOREVER.
THREE We liked the idea that the flagstone has less gaps for weeds to grow & is heavier so the stone hopefully create a stable walkway outside of our doors.
Tips For Installing A Flagstone Patio
Things to remember when youre planning and installing or repairing a flagstone patio.
Emily Fazio
- Natural stone colors can vary by region and source. One supplier may have a completely different quarry source than another, so its worth shopping around if youre looking for a particular color or size.
- If youre buying to match existing stone in your home, befriend an expert at the stone yard. Using photos or making an at-home visit, they can help you find a stone thats a great match. The nuances between colors in flagstone can make a big difference if youre replacing a broken stone or extending an existing flagstone area.
- Know the square footage of material you need when youre planning a patio, and add 10 percent to account for irregularities and extra cuts.
- Be aware of the stones thickness. Smaller dimensions are easier for a DIY install than larger stones, which can quickly weigh upwards of 250+ pounds. Natural stone veneers are preferable for patio areas that are built upon an existing solid base, such as a foundation or concrete stairs.
- Its easy to lay flagstone if you choose a wide assortment of sizes, and you cut as needed as you work. Plan to have an extra set of hands on site to help with the big stones.
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Best Flagstone Patio Designs
1. construction method there are two methods of laying flagstones for pathways, walkways or patios. the first one is the dry laying technique, otherwise known as the dry construction method, which is characterized by simply laying flagstone pieces in a bed of sand and gravel without the use of mortar and concrete. this process is diy
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Stones You Can Lay Over Concrete Patio
- Written by Melissa Austin on Jan 13, 2010To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by
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There are several types of stones that you can lay over a plain concrete patio. Adding stones helps dress up plain concrete patios. Because you already have the concrete patio, you are eliminating the often time-consuming task of having to pour a slab of concrete before laying your stones.
Flagstone
Flagstone is a building material that has been used in the construction industry for many years. Its beautiful and rustic appearance makes it the perfect choice for homeowners that are looking to build a new patio, driveways or walkway or just want to update an existing patio. Flagstone maintenance is quite simple and the building material is simple to install. Its a natural stone so it can be delicate because of its thinness. If installed properly flagstone patios will last for at least 50 years and will be resistant to freeze-thaw conditions, hot weather conditions, and rainfall.
Cobblestone
Mosaic Tile Patios
Tile
You can give your concrete patio a new lease on life by laying down tile over it. Tile is available in a wide range of textures, materials, and colors, so you can choose an inviting look thats just right for your patio space.
Pavers
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How To Plan And Design A Flagstone Patio And Walkway
with the latter, flagstones can be laid directly in soil or a bed of sand. thinner slabs should be laid in wet mortar or concrete to prevent cracking when stepped on. the spaces between irregularly shaped flagstone can be filled with pea gravel or ground cover plants like dymondia margaretae, creeping thyme, and dwarf mondo grass.
Find Stone At A Landscape Or Masonry Supplier
A landscape or masonry supplier will carry the best selection of stone. For our wall, we selected blue ledge stone. Although technically categorized as a 4-in. veneer stone, it has a random shape thats ideal for our rubble-style wall.
This stone is sold by the ton, and the supplier will tell you how much wall surface 1 ton covers. Calculate the number of square feet of wall surface and add about 20 percent for waste. This project required 5 tons.
For best results, buy bags of mortar from a local masonry supplier. Figure on a bag for every 3 sq. ft. of wall. Also order 4 x 8 x 16-in. solid concrete blocks to fill in wall areas that the patio will cover .
The wall cap is 3-in. thick Indiana limestone that we had custom-cut at a stone shop to fit the radius of our wall with a 1-in. overhang on each side. The capstone for the two walls was expensive , but it made smooth, attractive seating. You can make your own from flagstone, or form and pour concrete capstones for much less. Just keep in mind that a cap at least 3 in. thick looks best.
Buy your 1/2-in. steel reinforcement and form building materials for the wall footings at a home center.
Order a compactible gravel, called Class 5 limestone in this region, for the 6-in. thick patio base. Calculate the volume you need and order it along with enough sand to cover the base an inch deep. We selected granite sand because its color is similar to the bluestone color and makes the joints less noticeable.
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Strategically Placing The Stone
Following the advice we got, we chose to lay out a few of the behemoth stones near the center. Then we chose one big stone that would be the base for my new gas barbecue.
After that, we focused on finding pieces that had at least one completely straight side. We used those to place against the edge of the walkway, since that was the only straight edgeand it would look really obvious and messy if the stone didnt line up on that edge.
After laying out the front edge against the walkway, we started filling in one side of the yard. At first it was fairly simple, because we had a lot of stones to select from.
To make the patio as walkable as possible, we first tried to keep the gaps to around 1 inch. Later this became more difficult as the stone selection dwindled and we had to fit the remaining pieces into the puzzle.
At first we had some momentum. But as we progressed, it became the worst game of Tetris ever.
As soon as you found a stone that matched up with the existing pieces, you created a new edge that had to be matched by a new stoneon multiple sides. It was hell.
I kept thinking, if only we had chosen uniform paving stones. This would have been EASY.
This is what we wanted, I guess. The organic lookand we were paying for it.
Up until this point, this had been a combined effort with me and my wife. I was literally doing the heavy lifting of the stones, and she was helping pick them and decide where they went.
Snap A Base Line And 2 Perpendicular Lines
Snapping chalk lines directly in the sand is the best way to keep your bricks running straight. For the running bond pattern, youll only need a baseline and two lines perpendicular to the baseline, offset by half the width of a brick. Mark the rough center and snap a line at right angles using this method:
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Instructions For How To Lay A Diy Flagstone Patio
Taking out the Brick from the Previous Patio
After pulling up the old brick we had to dig out a lot of the dirt in order for the patio to be the right level coming out of our family room doors.
Digging & Leveling out the Dirt
Once the ground was leveled & at the right depth we added landscape fabric on top of the dirt.
Adding Crushed Stone & Grit
We wheel barreled in a lot of grit to level & stabilize the ground under where the patio was to go.
Once there was a few inches of poured grit we tamped it down.
Lay the Flagstone
Then we started laying the flagstone.
We are fortunate that the Bluestone was already here off of the patio by our kitchen.
Once the grit was tamped & level we could start laying the flagstone.
How to Move the Heavy Flagstone
We used Jason car to drive the heavy stones from one side of our property to the other.
Our kids & Moose thought it was so fun to be off-roading in our car & were always ready to hop in the back for each trip.
We washed the flagstone off with our power washer.
The DIY flagstone patio was laid one row at a time in just a few hours !
We were very lucky that we had enough bluestone to lay the patio without needing to cut any pieces of stone.
Adding Pea Gravel in Between the Flagstone
Once the stone was leveled we added pea gravel stone between the gaps.
I couldnt be happier to how this DIY flagstone patio turned out.
I think it ties in nicely with our DIY brick patio.
We finished our backyard sunken patio
Backyard Patio Reveal
What Kind Of Sand Do You Put Under Flagstone
Polymeric sand can be great and can prevent weeds and grass from planting between stones, but be sure the spaces youre filling between your stones are no wider than 1-1/2 and ideally as deep as the height of the stone to be sure the sand sets. Wide and shallow spacing can cause sand to crack and loosen.
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What Patterns Are Available
Flagstone stamp patterns are molded from actual stones to recreate their natural shapes and textures. The patterns have fractured edges, like real quarried stone, and incorporate faux grout lines for even greater authenticity. Styles differ primarily in the size, shape, and random arrangement of the stones.
Flagstone
Who Sells Crushed Stone Near Me
This cube. Pie Crush N Run is an exclusive item that can only be purchased at Home Depot. Unfortunately, they don’t sell it to buy online with stock, and they can’t say when local Home Depot stores will restock certain items.
Walkway ideas on a budgetHow do you build a sidewalk? Steps Plan your sidewalk. Set the territory. CALL DIGSAFE . Set a target for your job, which is both the starting point and the end point. Start digging. Create your sidewalk. Make a common thread in your closing note. Secure the shapes with curlers or pieces of wood. Finish digging.How to plan backyard design?How to decorate your backyard method
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What Type Of Cement Is Used For Flagstone
1:1 Mortar Mixture If you decide not to use hydrated lime in mortar for your flagstone walk, a good sturdy mixture is made from sand and Portland cement. Landscapers, accustomed to the extreme fluctuations of Colorado weather, have had satisfactory results mixing 1 part Portland cement with I part sand.
Unit Costs: How Pros Price
Unlike websites which blend pricing from dissimilar jobs, Homewyse creates custom estimates from Unit Costs. The Unit Cost method is based on job specific detail and current costs. Contracting, trade, design and maintenance businesses rely on the Unit Cost method for transparency, accuracy and fair profits.
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Lay Flagstone In Desired Pattern
Once youre foundation is solid and youve laid your weed barrier, if desired, its time to lay your flagstone pavers!
We were covering about 200 square feet and it took 2,000 pounds of flagstone, with the spacing you see below.
As I said before, we chose to lay the flagstone in a stepping stone style. There are large gaps, but not too large that you cant easily walk up and down the pathway.
There is no right or wrong to this method! I tweaked the angles and distance of each paver a few times before I liked how they looked. Getting the spacing right was important to me so the flagstone pathway was easy to walk on.
Can You Put Flagstone Over A Concrete Patio
Flagstone canover concreteyou willpatioIt canoverflagstoneswillconcrete patioLayoverpatio
. Subsequently, one may also ask, can you put paving slabs over concrete?
According to several paver manufacturers, paving blocks can be installed on top of concrete without mortar if you first lay down a 1/2 to 1 bed of coarse sand. Drainage: The biggest problem with laying pavers over a concrete slab is the inability for water to drain through the blocks and down into the earth.
Likewise, what is the best mortar for flagstone? A good outdoor hydrated lime mortar recipe is: 3 buckets of 5 gallon size of fine sand, 6.38 gallons of Portland cement and 1.2 gallons of hydrated lime. Blend these dry ingredients well then add water slowly until you get a mixture that resembles bricklayersmortar.
Beside above, how thick should mortar be under flagstone?
Thinset MortarLarge-bodied stones such as flagstone generally require a minimum trowel notch of 1/2-inch, which provides sufficient mortar for the flagstone to use as a bed.
What can I use to cover my concrete patio?
Lay the field pavers over concrete as you would on any paver patio. Scrape away the excess sand and cut off the excess landscape fabric with a utility knife. Glue down the last border patio blocks. Let the glue dry for a few hours before you tamp the field pavers and sweep sand across the patio to fill the joints.
QUICK GUIDE: LAYING PATIO SLABS ON CONCRETE
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Filling In The Gaps With River Pebbles
The final step was to pour river pebbles into the gaps. As I mentioned, some people use more sand in the gaps at this step or even plant ground cover. We chose river pebbles because of the look, and because we thought they would be more likely to stay put.
We just wanted to finish it so we could have our weekends back.
But as we started doing this final step, the pebbles suddenly tied the room together.
The bluish pebbles brought out all the nuanced colors of the flagstone. And the gaps suddenly didnt seem like mistakes. The unusual shapes made the overall look even more special and distinct.
Initially, I thought it would be difficult to add the pebbles in the smaller cracks. But using a flat wide shovel, I was able to lay them in very easily while my wife came behind me and leveled out the pebbles by hand.
One thing we didnt do was add edging. That can help to keep the pebbles from spreading out over time. We may add it eventuallybut that seems like unnecessary fine-tuning at this point.
For now were just happy its finally finished. And suprisinglyAMAZINGLYit actually looks pretty awesome.
Looking at it now, all the pain it took to create it seems like a distant memory.
How To Install Flagstone Patio With Mortar
Betty W. Lyons
Installing a flagstone patio in your backyard or pathway can give an attractive look to your home as many people dont like grass in their garden, so they prefer to install flagstone under patio furniture to provide an eye-catching look. Instead of using blocks on your pathway, you can install flagstone to give an impressive and attractive look. For this purpose, you must learn how to install a flagstone patio with a mortar and other substances. In this article, you will see the full procedure through which you can install flagstone by yourself without hiring anybody at work.
There are two ways from which you can install flagstone:
- Dry set: In this type, you can install flagstone directly on the ground. This approach is cheaper and easier to work in. Its the best type for creating a garden pathway or walkway.
- Mortared Stone: While mortared stone is more challenging and expensive, its the better choice to create it on a patio surface such as large and durable.
Now I will explain to you 2 methods:
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