How to Make a Stone Round Patio
Building a round patio allows you to create a more visually appealing furniture surface in your backyard and garden. The round design of the patio complements furniture placed in a facing arrangement, to make the area seem more inviting and conversational. A round patio also enhances the appeal of a round patio table. While a round patio offers an extraordinary design, building a round patio from stone requires a bit more attention to detail and planning than building a simple square or rectangular patio. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Yard stake
- Rubber mallet
- String
- Spray paint
- Spade
- Wheelbarrow
- Hand-powered soil tamper
- Fine gravel
- Joint tool or wedge
Instructions
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1
Choose a site for your patio. Ensure the site you choose does not sit above underground wires, pipes or your septic tank and does not sit below overhead wires. Submit a site drawing or an approximate distance from your home and electric poles to your local courthouse to obtain a permit to build in this site. A building permit for your patio may not be necessary in all states or residential areas.
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2
Mark off the area for your patio before you get started digging and laying the stones. Drive a yard stake into the center point of the patio site using a rubber mallet, and tie the end of a string to the stake. Tie the other end of the string around a can of spray paint. Wrap the string around the can to shorten the string to the desired radius of the patio. Pull the string taut, and spray a circle around the stake to mark the edges of the patio.
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3
Use the spade to remove the sod from the patio site. Place the removed sod in a wheelbarrow to easily cart it away. Check the area for levelness in all directions, using a level, and remove additional soil from high spots inside the circle.
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4
Compact the soil inside the excavated circle using a hand-operated soil tamper. Lift and drop the flat end of the tamper against the soil over and over until the soil stops giving under your weight and your feet stop producing tracks in the soil.
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5
Apply a 2-inch-thick layer of fine gravel into the excavated site. Compact the gravel layer using the soil tamper until the gravel layer ceases to shift under your feet.
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6
Begin setting the stones into place around the outer edge of the patio site. Starting from the outer edge allows you to adjust the spacing of stones to fill the space instead of having to cut the stones down to size if you start in the center and work outwards.
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Set the level on each stone and use the rubber mallet to tap each stone into place as level as possible. Leave at least half an inch of space between each stone of the patio. As you set in each stone, try to choose a stone that fits into the allotted space.
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Pour gravel into the cracks between the stones, after you finish installing all the stones of the patio. Use a joint tool or wedge to compact the gravel into the gaps between stones. Remove any gravel from the surface of the patio.
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