07 Feb 2023 / by Aqua Blue Custom Pools / 0 Comments

When is it a good idea to build a flagstone patio?

Do you want to make your backyard look cool? Building a flagstone patio is a great way to do that! Flagstone has a natural look and looks great with gardens or yards. Plus, flagstone patios are great for when you want to sell your house. But you have to take safety precautions. Make sure you use heavy leather gloves to handle the flagstone and rent a truck or hand truck to lift it
up. You may have to work slowly over a few weekends, but it will be worth it when you have
your flagstone patio!

Materials Needed

You will need some stuff to create a beautiful flagstone patio. You'll need flagstone, crushed gravel or decomposed granite, and gravel for landscaping. You'll also need some tools like a flat dolly or hand truck, wheelbarrow, shovel, angle grinder, scrape two-by-four, bucket, hammer, sledgehammer, masonry cold chisel, tamper, bubble level, measure tape, leaf blower, broom, leather gloves, and safety glasses.

Plan Your Patio

Design your patio so it can get sunshine and shade at different times of the year. Make sure the deck has a slope of 1/8 inch for every foot, so any water runs away from the house. Mark Utilities: Dig 5 inches to install the base of your patio. To connect to your local utility service, call 8-1-1. This service is free and will send someone to your property to mark the ground for underground utilities like electricity, water, and gas.

Get Supplies

Flagstone is not a regular shape, so it can be trickier to work out how much it will cost than with square-cut items like paving stones. Natural paver stone is priced based on its weight and not its size. A 2-inch thick, wobbly flagstone can cover around 80 square feet. Plan Delivery If needed, open up fences so the truck can put the materials near the project area. Put the gravel pile closest to the project area, then the flagstone and crushed granite.

Dig down 5 inches

Cut turf into 1-foot wide and 2-3 feet long strips and take out all the soil. Rake the ground to make it smooth. Add a few handfuls of gravel to fill in deep potholes. Use a two-by-four to scour the ground. Use a hand tamper to press the ground down.

Dig out the area

Cut the turf into strips about 1 foot wide and 2-3 feet long and remove it. You'll have to fill in some areas when you're done. Use a rake to make the surface even. Put some gravel in any big holes. Use a two-by-four to flatten the ground and a hand tamper to press it down.

When you add gravel or decomposed granite to your yard, make sure it has the right slope. Place a two-by-four with a bubble level on top of the material. Check to make sure it is level and measure down one-eighth of an inch per foot or one-eighth of an inch for every eight feet. Fill the wheelbarrow with half of the material and lay it down around the project area. Make sure it's spread out evenly with a depth of one inch. That way, your yard will stay on the right track!

Lay out flagstones like a puzzle!

Start by finding the center stones and putting them together. Make sure they fit together without needing to be cut. If you do need to cut, use an angle grinder to mark a line, then put a two-by-four under the stone and use a sledgehammer to break it. The joints between stones should be a quarter to one and a half inches wide. Finally, place the heaviest flagstones around the edges to keep them from moving.

Polymeric sand is super helpful for your flagstone patio. You spread it on the flagstones until the cracks between them are about an eighth of an inch deep. Then use a leaf blower to remove any extra sand from the stones. If you want to make sure the sand is really secure, spray it lightly with water. Let it dry for 24 hours, then your patio will be ready to use!

When to call a pro

Flagstone is special because it is bigger and heavier than most other stones. It also has different colors and shapes. This can make it tricky to work with. If you want to build a flagstone patio that is more than 100 or 200 feet, you should get help from a professional. They will have the skills to help you build it quickly and safely.

When is it a good idea to build a flagstone patio?

Lay out flagstones like a puzzle!

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