Help with Patio Stone Lay out

[JB4310]

sand is used a lot of places as a base.
I've also seen folks use agrilime or crusher run as a base, as it tamps well and sets up hard.
If you set your stones fairly close together (1/4" or less) you can use dry mortar mix to help hold them in place. just dump it on the stones when you're done and use a stiff bristle shop broom to swwep it into the cracks and level it. Rain will set it in place. (you can do the same thing with sand or agrilime as well - it just won't harden with time and moisture -- and will allow weeds to grow in the cracks)

Don't think I'll have weeds for a while, no organic material got carried away digging!

There's different names for the material depending on location, around here we call it process, which is larger stone mixed with smaller, down to dust.
It's also called road base, compacts like a son of a gun. I'll put that down first, about 4-6 inches. Then top that with stone dust which is more like little pcs of grated cheese, it's a little easier to add a little or scrape away a little as your bedding the stone.

JB.

 

[CurlyDave]

sand is used a lot of places as a base.

There is a special sand for setting flagstones, which is a mixture of different screen sizes, it packs in harder than a banker's heart with almost no effort.

 

[riptides]

Sorry this took so long, travel ya know,

So here is a snapshot of the project.

Me and the stones. notice the varying thickness of each stone. This is a problem I had not anticipated. I thought I could level the work area and be done with it.

Working in a "confined" area was another problem. I butted up against the house on two sides, a hand well, and an outbuilding. This taxed my math and pattern analysis skills.

The handwell proved challenging. It was encased with field stone and concrete. I ended up busting it out by hand. Very carefully of course.

An overhead shot of the random pattern.

An almost done final shot. I hand cut around the well. I had to run back to the store for two or three pieces to finish up. Talk about a lucky estimate of material.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

great job!

 

[JB4310]

Yeah riptides that looks like something to be proud of, now that puts more pressure on me better not show those pics to my wife.

I'm just gonna go with straight courses, I going nuts with my little model pcs just laying them out in lines trying to stagger the end joints as best as possible. I doubt I could ever handle the random pattern with these stones.

I see your stones are cut square, mine are rougher and I think are designed for a 1" joint, since they all measure at least a half inch less than their nominal size. I'm gonna try and keep a tighter joint, I Just hope I can get them to all lay level. should start laying some stone in a day or so.

JB.

 

[riptides]

Good luck with it.

I must profess, that I laid about 60 square feet worth, didn't like the way it was looking, tore it up, re-graded, and started again.

I thought it would be about five days worth of work. It turned out to be much more than that over a three month period.

I called in a few professionals to give me estimates to finish the job, just laying the stone. Needless to say, the price.... was still crazy. So I just ponied up. It was hot dirty work. Some of the stones were in excess of 100 pounds. I just loved digging them in, settting them down, only to find they needed to be rotated, or graded another inch or two. I got real **** about level. I must have had about 3 levels working the area.

I think this was done over two years ago now. I have fed the patio lots of beer. For MOSS, in between the cracks. And have not reset one stone. So victory is still mine.

I grill on it, and sit out on it every night when I get home. It was worth it.

 

[JB4310]

A little progress, should get more done today.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

glad to see you remembered the drain tile!

 

[mudcat]

JB4310, I like it! Keep the pictures coming! Looking forward to it.

Riptide, Outstanding job!

 

[JB4310]

Making some progress, the use of a tripod level made getting the first courses set up perfectly level with 1 inch of pitch between them (20ft). Drain pipe is at the edge of the low side, tied into an existing unused leach field for an old septic system.

These stones are heavy, can only move 5-6 at a time before the Ford 1700 stands up in a wheelie

JB.

 

[mjncad]

Looking good JB4310.

 

[EddieWalker]

Very impressive. I like it allot!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie

 

[JB4310]

Thanks for the compliments everyone,

Only got a little done yesterday due to rain, wont get back to it till Monday since my helper is off for the weekend.

Wife's happy and I'm kinda surprised it's coming out decently, I struggled alot with leveling and laying out, now it's just follow the string between the 2 outer courses and level side to side.

The stones are all predetermined as far as size and location so there's no brain strain now it's still a pain in the rear bedding them, some require laying down and lifting back up 6-8 times trying to get them right.

They are so big that they shouldn't move/settle much, the smallest stone in the picture is 18" x 24" the largest is 42" x 24"

JB.

 

[CurlyDave]

Looking good.

 

[mudcat]

Jealous.

 

[JB4310]

Got a little more done today.

I've been calling this blue-stone, but I'm not sure if that isn't just a generic name for many types of stone?

One thing I didn't realize is the many colors in this stone, almost like the roof slate we work with, with the variegated and mottled colors. of course it's in laminated layers just like the roof slate, just not as hard and dense.
It's a nice surprise, when the stone was all piled up it just looked like a dirty gray, now with the rain and a little rinsing with the hose you can see the unique character of this stone.

JB.

 

[JC-jetro]

Lovely work you've done there john, very impressive.

JC

 

[riptides]

I've been calling this blue-stone, but I'm not sure if that isn't just a generic name for many types of stone?

Very nice work. Very impressive.

I think it is called Pennsylvania Flagstone.

 

[frwinks]

you're right, the patina is awesome and the size is perfect for an outside arrangement

 

[Airic]

Nice job, it looks great. You know now your wife will want to go buy some $$$$$$$ patio furniture. A inexpensive project can add up fast when wifey's add their touch. Thats the way mine works.