[P-Train]

I have a client that wants a flagstone walkway with mortar between the joints. In the picture you can see there is an existing walk with ½” to dust with small steps. I want to remove this and make the new walk.

I have not done a project like this before. However I use rock a great deal and have used 4” rock steps that have turned out great!

My question is, do the directions here do what I want justice?

As you can see there is an elevation difference from the deck to the top. How will this effect the project?

I was thinking of using a front-end loader to do the excavation.

Any advice would be great. Once I know how to do it excatly I think it would not be a problem for me. I get the hang of things very quickly.

Thanks.








Laying out the Flagstone Pathway

1.Lay out the perimeter of the planned pathway and drive a wooden stake into the ground at each corner.

Use a pair of garden hoses to lay out a curved pathway. Adjust the bends and curves in the hoses to achieve a satisfactory design before staking out and digging the pathway.

2.On each stake, measure and mark a point ¼ inch or so above the ground. This is the ultimate height of the finished path.

3.Tie a string between the stakes at the ¼-inch mark, using a line level to keep the string level.

Use a water level instead of a line level to set your guide strings for especially long runs - say, 50 feet or more.

4.Raise the string on an uphill stake, or drop it on a downhill stake, to establish the correct slope ratio for the length of the pathway (¼ inch to every foot of path).

5.Adjust the line level of the string on the opposite uphill or downhill stake to ensure that both sides of the path are parallel.

6.Do a rough layout with flagstones alongside the staked-out pathway. This will give you a better feel for how to lay the stones and how the finished pathway will look.

Preparing the Foundation for the Flagstone Pathway

1.Dig up about 2½ inches of the soil between the strings.
If you choose to use the sod later, set it aside in a cool place and water.

2.As you dig, periodically measure the depth of the foundation against the strings to gauge yourself.

3.Once it's dug, tamp it flat. Check again for the slope.

4.Spread about 1 ½ inches of sand over the freshly dug area. Distribute it evenly.

Stone dust can be substituted for sand if you desire.

5.To level the sand, take a 2x4 and smooth (screed) the surface with the narrow (2-inch) side.

6.Tamp the sand over the entire foundation surface.
Laying the Flagstones

1.Place the flagstones on top of the compacted sand. Their tops should be about 1/4 inch above the surrounding soil.

2.Adjust the height of each flagstone as necessary by adding or removing sand beneath them.

3.To seat the flagstones, lay a straight 2x4 across them and tap along the board with a rubber mallet.

4.After seating the flagstones, move the straight 2x4 across the surface of the flagstones to check for any unevenness.

5.Gaps between the larger pieces of flagstones can be filled in with smaller cut pieces.

[PSUscaper]

Being this is a less 'critical' walkway, you may not need any steps. I like to use steps on front pathways and other main entrance ways where their is higher traffic and where a slip and fall may be more likely. On a garden path such as this, it is often possible to get away with more of a slope, and I also find it makes the path more interesting.

Picutures are deceiving, but it doesn't look like that drastic of a slope. I would keep a eye on my level and make sure there is no drastic up or downs, but just run the flagstone with exis grade of lawn. All that line set up may not be necessary on a project like this, especially with flagstone.

As for mortared joints........not a good idea for dry laid stone....they will crack apart in a short time. Use dust, or keep the joints tight and try polymeric sand. If they really want mortar, then the entire project should be wet laid on top of a concrete base, min 4" thick.

For excavation I would use a mini-x........3000lb class. use the machine to dig out and dump into wheel barrels. Have two guys running barrels while you excavate.....will be almost no lawn damage that way. You can run a very clean dig out with the machine and wheel barrels. Spoils may be able to be dumped on property, a raised be may be able to be made, or perhaps a area in the lawn needs to be leveled out...if not, ramp into the back of the truck.

A small compact tractor loader may be nice also to run materials in, but damage to the lawn may occur. On a small job like this, the machine may only save a couple of hours labor in moving materials compared to wheel barrels.......that couple hours of labor may not make up the cost and time spent repairing the lawn.

As for the flagstone, it seems like you have a good game plan. The only way to learn how to do it is to do it.

[Terry D]

P-Train:

In CA anything requiring mortar joints gets a 4" concrete slab, with #3 rebar on 24"o.c. for a base.

Water levels are a joke for this type of work, throw-out those instructions.

Lots of time involved for the dirt removal so don't cut yourself too short on ridding the spoils. Its costly.

Mortar beds in he long run last forever, so obviosly it costs more up front.

The client needs to understand this.

I own a Bobcat 553 for the dirt demo, however you can rent those 443's in most markets.

We use 20' lenght bender boards to set our grades and layout, forget about the strings.

[Stonehenge]

P-train,

I'm not certain what part of the country you live in, other than the southeast - that info might affect my advice. I would probably want more excavated than 2 1/2", with a thicker base. For a meandering path like that you should be able to follow the existing grade, so long as that does not mean that the walk is pitched toward a structure (hard to tell due to the perspective of the photo). I'd want much tighter joints than what are in the photo. As for steps - maybe my eyes are going on me - I don't see any steps, so I can't advise you one way or another.

For joints - listen to Penn. One thing we tried recently is to blow out the joints between the flagstone with a leaf blower to create more of a crevasse, then fill it with polymeric sand. The thought is a thicker bead of poly sand is more likely to hold together than a thin dusting.

[P-Train]

Thanks peeps.

I may have a few more questions later.