We surrounded the design with the rest of the flagstones in a circle (resulting in a centre medallion type of look) and then they are laid randomly to the outer edge of the patio in a normal fashion. Otherwise Im afraid it will crack. Thank you for any comments that you can provide. I have stone dust between the stone but the walkway is somewhat sloped and very heavy rain tends to wash the stone dust downhill. that is the stone dust that you refer to, pea gravel or something else as a filler in cracks that wide? Hi Devin Thanks for all your comments. Thanks for telling me the plastic approach is lame. These will be an acrylic polymer epoxy resign stuff.essentially, liquid plastic. We have to install the permeable pavers because it was required by the city. We aim to make your next mosaic project an enjoyable and easy experience. Clean the joint of all dust and debri. With large gaps like that, this is the best that can be doneis find a way to get the slope corrected. I live in mid-state NJ and had a 17x30 ft. bluestone patio installed over a previously existing concrete patio base. If not, then Id grab my oxygen/acetylene torch. I have completed about 25% of the 800 sf of patio and walkway via this method. Not to be pendantic! I am just starting out on making stepping stones. 1. Hi Devin, Ive loved to play with rocks and recently did some work at our camp on Moosehead Lake (ME). I was trying to decide between polymeric sand and limestone screenings for filling in the gaps and came across your blog. Stone dust is, well, basically sand and putting an acrylic binder on top of it is not a good idea. Stone dust will work. And your case however what youre suggesting sounds like a good idea remove the soil replace with stone dust and then watch C if the flagstones dont get as dirty afterwards. And 1 of dg layering level? Youll be fine using screenings. Polymeric sand is indeed pretty good on these fronts.for the first year or 3. Bear with me here I dont know a lot about it but have you ever thought about using glass marbles, crushed glass, fish tank gravel in a more vibrant color something that would be a little more creative? First, avoid the craft kits that have you make a butterfly or some other canned 1970s design by gluing large pieces of pre-cut stained glass onto a stepping stone. I have written an article that discusses whether to use sand, cement or gravel for in between you flagstone joints. Do I start with stone dust and then add a top layer of topsoil? Is there a solution I can spray on and use myself? Thats the basic formula. This is a big project that you are describing.. Id recommend that you spend some time reading my other DIY flagstone articles. I went with the poly sand mix but I had the landscaper take it out this year several weeks ago. If you are working in conditions of extremely dry air, such as when the heater or AC is running), then use a humidifier to keep the air moist. I am considering adding about 5 to 10 tons of fines to firm things up a bit, hoping that the smaller particles will help lock the larger stones in place. Heres an article about removing and replacing the stone dust in-between your flagstone. It depends on where you live. But I would toss it together with stone dust, mixing the two, and consider it an acceptable joint material, so lang as its at least half stone dust/screenings and so long as its mixed fairly well. I have good sandy loam soil. The original plan to use the polymeric sand to seal the joints is long jettisoned after reading your blog here and others how it destroys the shine and luster of the native rock. I would look under the sink and see if you have any orange based cleaning products. The easiest way to keep your tile from moving around when the concrete is poured on top is to put contact paper at the bottom of the mold with the sticky side up. I a, not sure what or how the original owners did the flagstone patio. I have in place 30 year old clay brick patios and walkways. The real big problem however here is that it tightens up the joints. Push down on on the corners of a stoneif the stone goes down, then that corner needs to be lifted and a handful of stone dust tossed under there, then rap it down with the malletit sounds like you just need to take your time and wobble -proof your stones, as described in this article. Just dont! A friend recommended polymeric stone dust so I did a search. It appears that the base is a sand mixture, not concrete. There should not be much difference between the capacity for mortar and concrete. Thanks. How should we address this issue? Site conditions will of course determine which will work for your spot. Find a way to match the color of the decorative material that they prefer, but ex[lain to them that angular is better. I consent to First Day of Home collecting and storing the data I submit in this form. Thanks for your colorful commentary and your insight (with years and years of experience). Any saw cuts i then rough up, using the same hammer technique as in the video, in order to keep it natural loooking. Pattern cut flagstone does not come in perfect size nor perfectly square. For more information,pleasesee mydisclosures. Thanks! Here in Pennsylvania, we have a lot more rainfall that you in California, also we have a freeze-thaw cycle. Im in Tucson AZ and have a very large flagstone patio that is 15 yrs old and is showing many cracks in the mortar grout. No acrylic, plastic, or polymers are required in your project. Hi Devin, Really helpful articles on flagstone. Do you seal your stones after adding the screening? One stone at a time. Im not sure what to do about the wasps so much maybe if you got the Moss firmly established it would stop looking like a good place for the wasps. btw, the photo you emailed me looks GREAT. Or sand, if need be. Do you need hardscape help? Then you can outline the pattern with tiles before placing the main pattern tiles. You can do it. Just to confirm, anything called Breeze will be the material you like best and that which you call screenings? Sweeping dg into the joints again, because some voids will have appeared after the first hose down, then hosing down again. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. DIY flagstone advice from a guy at Lowessounds dangerous. Thank you again and Best Regards! Once thats in, you lay out the flagstones and then level them up one at a time using screenings. Its looks like a flat matte color where there was poly sand and where no poly sand you see a beautiful high gloss high color finish.this is the best analogy I can think of. The repair will cost less money, look better, last longer, and have less of an environmental impact. You need to leave space in between the tiles for grout or cement. Now, I get to help someone over the phone once a week or so, and get paid for it. Can I still use the screening and will moss grow in it? Againdo not spray round-up or any other poison unto your patio. I addressed the issue of weeds and dry laid flagstone here As it states in the article, personally, weeds between flagstones dont bother me all that muchand if the weeds really are that bad, then a bit of boiling water will dispatch with them nicely. Clay subsoil can compact and sometimes stay fairly stablebut usually, it will settle and heave over the years, sometimes leaving you a fairly level patio, just with a bit of character. Hello Devin, thank you for the very informative article. Then I need to study how it behaves, over years. And, if so, is there a way to do this so you dont see the border material for the finished project? I cant and dont use Round-up type products, so thats a plus, but I also want to keep the structure stable and level as lots of kids run through the yard. What I use is stone dust AKA screenings. Not that it would prove anything conclusively, you just got me curious. Im not sure what was put between them at the time. When laying the flagstone, I use a four foot level.2.5 inches over ten feet is equal to 1 inch over 4 feet. I do think I may need to cut a center trench prior to adding the sand and screening to add a drainage pipe in case of future settling? Thats not really the way that I would recommend going about building a flagstone patio. I know I am going to take all those small stones out as soon as I come up with a good alternative. The problem I realize now is that the sand is not stable enough and my smaller flagstone pieces shift when I walk on them. Both of these problems can be avoided by following best practices and using sound methods. Be careful when laying your tiles that you don't leave any sharp edges exposed. You may get away with 2 or 4 inch jointsbut it will work better with stones fit more tightly than that. Ill get on it. Ive used products before where you actually add a binder to the gravel. I fill the mold with the powdered concrete to see how much I need or I guestimate. The stones are fairly thick, 2-3thanks. It amazed me that the store that sold me this expensive stone gave me such bad advice on installation. It would fail, but I see the reason. I never measure it with cups. To be fair Ive seen exceptions! So now I got to go out and buy more I think. Thanks again! Another optionfit the stones so tight together so that theres really no need for filler. Thanks for saving me from the poly sand! Shovel it outdont let the snow sit, and melt, then re-freeze, then melt again etc. Ideally, wed have a slope of 1/4 per foot/ 1 over 4.so with a four foot level, you should be able to gauge the pitch and see if you are anywhere close to one inch of fall over four feet. I was wondering if you know the best way to do this and what would be good to use in wider joints. I realize it would be better to remove everything but Im not up to doing that. YES, its supposed to be fun and tiringyoure doing it right! If using a specific pattern, print one copy of the pattern, and cut out a separate copy. Hose down. Any garden center or landscape supply place should have what you are looking for. Perhaps some mix of local materials may work, but it all depends on what materials are available and what color pallet we are working with. See that off-white material between the flagstones? The stone dust would just be compacted by wetting and drying? Thank you for your very fast response and for taking the time to answer my question. If you mean the method where you stick contact paper in the bottom of the mold and stick tiles to it and then pour concrete on top, then yes, that method works very well for tiles of different thickness. When making a stepping stone there are a few things you need to be aware of first: Mosaics stepping stone can be made by using a cement paver purchased from a garden centre. Good question. I would of course not recommend it, for reasons outlined in the article above.well, it wouldnt be my first recommendation anyway. 8-12 of compacted 21AA limestone (well compacted), decomposed granite and then filled the joints with decomposed granite. Psyllium husk joint binder is, as far as I can tell, a lot more natural than an acrylic based product. By continuing to use this site, we'll assume you consent. If its your first day to try something, youre in the right place. About ground cover for in between your stones.theres a few good options out there, like Irish moss (not really a moss) and thyme and others. Thank you. Stone dust, all week long my friend. This was done to lower costs, and because the pond area wouldnt receive heavy foot traffic (so we werent worrying about people kicking the stone dust out with their shoes) and also because we wanted a looser look, around the pond. Besides, you can always get old cake pans from the thrift store or use a plastic dish pan or take an old plastic 5-gallon bucket and cut it down with a jigsaw. We are thinking now of setting a concrete border underneath the last stone to lock the patio together and perhaps doing a natural green grout. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Polymeric sand, in the above scenario, will either crack up, or, worse yet, it may stay solid on top, leaving that void beneath, causing more problems until the poly sand finally does crack up. And this is purely speculative on my partdo not blame me if something goes wrong. And you were obviously very meticulous too. Having said that, its a gamblesometimes you can lay a few flagstones on sand and not have them taken over by ants.so such a small amount of sand in between your flagstones may not be an issue. What to put between flagstone jointspolymeric sand or stone dust? We had a flagstone patio put in last year. I intend to lay one 12 x 5 long 2 inch thick tread on top of the cinder block. The larger material will help to jam up the drainage-cut, making it so less fines settle down below the concrete, while still letting water drain. Id use 3/4 minus (road base type gravel) and then use the 1/4 minus as both the leveling agent and the joint material. I seem to have to pressure wash mine every year. https://www.devineescapes.com/how-to-clean-dry-laid-flagstone/%, Third heading down, How to install stone dust in between your flagstones, Basically, sweep the stone dust into the joints, sweep up the excess, hose down on shower setting, repeat. Sweeping sand into the joints is one way to go about it.read the article, for other suggestions , Or, check out this great article here: https://www.devineescapes.com/flagstone-what-to-use-sand-cement-or-gravel/. Where do you buy the screenings? But Ive seen em fail down south, and out south west, too. Despite that, regular stone dust usually works just fine in between flagstones, without any binder, polymeric or otherwise. Use the mallet only to gently set the stones into the crushed granite. In reality, nothing is impossible. Joe. I then will use the 1/8 to 1/4 between the joints as advised. Some areas are shaded by tress, and some by the house, which I think contributes to algae growth. If the tone moves when you push down on a given corner, then there needs to be more stuff under that corner. The one inch gap for pattern-cut or rectilinear flagstone.thats what I used to always do with a wet laid job. is this a bad practice? Thanks again! Boil a pot of water, to kill weeds. kit includes everything u need: 3 molds, 6 paints, 1 paint brush, 1 pair of gloves, 1 face mask, 3 bags of plaster, 1 tube of glitter, 1 mixing tool, 10 gem stones, instructions. Cracks will form. I have written some instructions for using thinset mortar and some tips for keeping your hands and tools clean while working with thinset mortar. Easy. Is that just the nature of stone dust? In a northern climate, cement misused in a dry laid application will almost certainly fail. Yes, I travel for work. Instead, make something original by pressing your own designs of small tile into wet concrete, and be confident that whatever skill you lack may actually add to the originality and charm of what you make. Thank you very much. Im hoping you might recommend something. Good luck! Be sure to hose off and dont let muriatic acid sit long, as it can deteriorate the joint materialmuriatic acid eats cement. Theres also an adjoining bluestone path with 2 joints, but Ive used mulch for those and pounded it in; seems to be holding although it gets weedy of course. Only time cement is used in the joint material is if the patio has a proper concrete foundation. Best of luck! If any tiles do not adhere after the stone has dried, you can always secure them in place with. The first thing I want to do is find a way to make it less sloped. I have raw edged slate from a slate fall in the woods, so its a puzzle to fit, but super relaxing and good exercise. What did I do wrong? Do not dispose of thinset in plumbing or drains. Id make the stones fit well first (assuming that the polymeric sand users left big gaps like they usually do), with a half inch (or so) gap between the stones. Thanks! Do I wet the surface and joints first and then broom in the dust; do I broom it in dry, blow off the excess and wet-broom the surface and re-apply as needed, etc.? Good luck! If your stone is on a concrete base, then you want to repair it with mortar, not stone dust. The look is great, however, it is too soft for their liking. Hi We are going to try and repair some ancient stone walls on our Marthas Vineyard property. I have a slope in my backyard for about 15 to 20 degrees. I had a flagstone patio laid 2 years ago. Most of the patio is in a high sun area, so moss (which I love) is out of the question I think. I have a jar of small pieces of glass that I want to put on this piece of concrete and grout it. On the right hand side is modified gravel, or d.o.t road base. Must be a west coast thing. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It does dissolve some plastics, not all, so who knows? This is basically putting an acrylic binder, liquid plastic, on top of the joints. How big are the gaps between the flagstones? Hammer and chisel and/or angle grinder may be needed.but for a dry laid patio just with mortar in the joints, a flathead screwdriver will often be all that you need. Stone screenings will contain 1/8 inch to 1/16th inch small chips of stone, like large sized sand, and fines, which will be like flour. This is coming from a guy who originally jumped on the poly sands some fifteen years ago. I was hoping to create the entire pathway like this (no flagstones or pavers). That depends. A customer installed 46 tons (4000 sf) of to decorative type stone, fairly rounded with minimal fines on their driveway. After that I have one side that I will change to/add retaining wall stone borders to better lock my stones in. Remove the paper pattern, and add the remaining tiles. Anything with d-limonene. Incredible. []. Mosaic stepping stones can last a very long time. If stone chips are getting all over the surface of your flagstone, then the joints are probably over filled. I dry laid the flagstone (on a 4-inch compacted base of 5/8th minus gravel with a 1 inch layer of 1/4 minus gravel that the stone was set on top of). We made 11 mosaic stone letters for the school that are roughly 1824. Heres a patio, where for most of it, I set the flagstones maybe an inch to an inch and a half apartso thats already wider than usual, for mebut then, for the section of patio just past the deck and surrounding the pond, we set the flagstones more like 2 inches apart. Thanks so much! Thanks. First off, thank you for all your posts. Having not seen the patio in question, I really cant say what is best. 2) level out the stones, one at a time, using the crushed stone to raise them up, as needed. Some joints are huge with tiny stones sort of floating in concrete. I was not thrilled with it at the time but time and money influenced our decision. [] Note that here I am talking about using thinset mortar to attach a mosaic design to an existing stepping stone or paver or flagstone. I am in the midwest and that is the closest thing I can find that probably matches what you described in your article. Early in my flagstone patio career I used to try and keep the screenings in my flagstone joints as close to level with the stones as possible, but with foot traffic, wind and rain, the joints seem to naturally level off to around an average of one eighth of an inch shy of flush with the flagstone.. And as it is not outside, we are not getting natural rain/drizzle/snow which might more effectively harden up the joint areas. When Im done, the joint material will be about a quarter inch from the tops of the stones. Each of them broke in only one place- the middle part of the H dividing the letters in half. Thanks! Last year, I installed the landscape fieldstone for a courtyard but after an injury, had to stop before completing. Ive addressed this issue here in another post. I have tried poly sand (with the correct amts of watering)but find that the sand forms a crust, other areas may be soft and mushy, and if I dig down it is not solid. Various websites recommend using the nonstick baking pans from your kitchen and even make the claim that you wont scratch them up, but I wouldnt go that route. For Versabond brand thinset, we mix 1/4 pound of water per 1 pound of thinset. Yes, he was almost certainly talking about screenings. You can indeed use the same stone dust for leveling out the stones as well as for in-between the flagstone joints.