Things You'll Need:
- Work gloves
- Eye goggles
- Back brace
- Knee pads
- Wooden stakes
- Heavy string
- Tape measure
- Shovel
- Carpenter's level
- Plate compactor or manual tamper
- Rubber mallet
- Wheelbarrow
- Coarse, pea-sized gravel
- Masonry sand
- Natural paving stones
- Industrial broom
- Water hose
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Step 1
Use several small, wooden stakes and string to mark and tie off the area where the stones will be placed.
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Step 2
Shovel out enough soil from the area to accommodate the average thickness of the stones selected, plus 2 inches (for instance, if your stones are 1 1/2 inches thick, dig down 3 1/2 inches deep). If the area where you are laying stone is adjacent to a home or other structure, create and maintain a gradual downward slope as you proceed in order to direct rainwater away from the foundation.
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Step 3
Use a plate compactor or manual tamper to flatten the excavated area. Add 2 inches of coarse gravel mixed with sand. Flatten this mixture of sand and gravel with the compactor and spray it with a misting of water.
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Step 4
Roughly arrange your stones over the base layer in a pattern that looks pleasing to you. Concentrate on one fourth of the total area at a time. Use a carpenter's level and a rubber mallet to level each stone in reference to the stone next to, above and below it. If necessary, add or remove sand to assist the process. Repeat for the entire area to be covered.
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Step 5
Sweep sand with a stiff bristled broom over the stones and into the spaces between them. Mist the surface of the stones with water, moistening the sand well. Allow the sanded joints to dry in the sun for about two hours. Add more sand and water if needed to further stabilize the stones.
