[klaaar]

There is a walkway including steps from the public sidewalk to the front door that I am about to work on. There's ten steps or so, in small groups, separated by runs of flat walkway. The steps (and small patio at front door) are mostly tight and strong, but the runs are falling apart. They were apparently built years ago by laying the rectangular, multi-size flags on very coarse sand, and then filling joints with mortar. We plan to remove sand and loose mortar and dispose off site.

We have built a good number of mortared patios and walkways, but haven't done a job quite like this before. We believe there is a good although uneven poured base including chunks of stone, so we plan to relay the clean flags on mortar on the base.

1. where the existing mortar on patio and steps is strong but with cracks, should we try to fill cracks with a specialized, tinted caulk? I assume this would be most economical unless the crack was too wide.

2. where the existing base shows cracks (we assume it might), should we fill with same type of caulk/sealant then spread mortar on top 1 day later?

3. after we power wash the existing tight mortar, we assume the color would not match new, undyed mortar. Do you guys normally put a touch of color in mortar to try to mimic the look of weathered mortar in the hardscape?

Any insights, suggestions, criticisms are appreciated.