How to Install Flagstone for a Patio

When you start having problems with foot traffic wear patterns it may be time to look into flagstone for a patio or walkway. Flagstone pavers and patio stone can eliminate these wear patterns and replace them with beautiful pathways and gathering points for your parties. They can combat the effects of rain turning bare patches into mud patches by keeping these bare patches from ever happening in the first place.

Turning your home into your vision of what you want it to look like can take quite a considerable amount of time. Using flagstone can be a way to do a project which lasts a long time, they have a long life cycle as they are a naturally occurring building tool that has been around for centuries and will be for centuries more. They may very well outlive your home, look at Stonehenge, those guys don't live around there anymore but their stones still stand.

Before you begin your patio project you will need to do some measuring and preparation. First you will measure the area where the stones are to be laid. Take this measurement to your local landscaping centre and have a sales associate assist you with picking out the best stones for your needs. A good store will have trained and experienced staff who can do just this for you, and have done it for many others. The measurements you took will be used as a rough guide to the size and number of flagstones you will need to complete the project. This will be done by measuring all the stones and getting an estimate for the amount of surface area they will cover. Before leaving with your new flagstone get some paver sand, usually a bag or two will do, and a hand tamper, if you don't already own them.

Begin levelling off the area for you stones now. You will need to dig down deep enough to allow room for the sand that goes under the stones, and to accommodate the thickness of your stones so that they sit level and flush with the ground. Stones set too high can be a trip hazard at your next barbeque, and no one wants to see your great new patio trip up someone with a plate full of hamburgers. The hand tamper from earlier will be useful at this point to begin packing down the soil. With the soil packed tight add a base layer of sand.

Now you can begin doing a rough layout of your stones. Start in the middle and work out to the edges. Lay them as close together as possible, but realize you'll never get a perfect fit. I like to think the haphazardness of it adds to the charm. Once they are all placed take a walk over them to be sure they sit flush. Add sand under ones that rock back and forth to get them level. When they are all level and sitting nicely simply sweep sand over the entire project to fill in the cracks. This will complete your project and hold it all in place. That's all there is to it, you've installed flagstone for a patio project.

For More Information, Visit : http://www.paverbrothers.com