How to Dry and Lay Flagstone

Flagstones are flat, thin slabs of rock that can serve a variety of purposes around your property. The stones can be stacked and secured to build retaining walls around raised flower beds, gardens or flag poles, or they can be dry laid. When you dry lay flagstones on your property, you can create a path or walkway through your lawn or garden without the need for any adhesive or hardware to hold the flagstones in place.

Things You'll Need

• Stakes
• String
• Tape measure
• Shovel
• Landscaping fabric
• Crushed stone
• Compactor
• Granite sand
• Flagstone
• Rock hammer
• Broom

Instructions

1. Stake off the area where you want to lay the flagstone path. Place stakes every 8 to 12 inches and tie string between them to mark the path. Once staked off, measure the length and width of the walkway to determine the total area, and use these numbers to purchase your materials.

2. Dig the soil up in the walkway to a depth of 10 to 12 inches, and layer the inside of the hole with landscaping fabric. Spread a layer of crushed stone over the landscaping fabric to a depth of 2 inches, wet the crushed stone and use a compactor to fully press the stone into the hole. Layer granite sand over the top of the stone, wet the sand and compact again.

3. Add 2 inches of the soil you dug up on top of the stone and sand. Compact the soil. Then, add 2 inches and compact again until the soil is roughly even with the surrounding ground.

4. Create the pathway by laying out the flagstone in the pattern that you want them in the soil. Make sure that no spaces larger than 1 ½ inches are present between any of the flagstone edges. If you need to reduce the sizes of the flagstones to fit them into the pathway, chip away at the edges of stones with a rock hammer. Push the flagstones down into the soil by twisting them back and forth and gently and applying pressure.

5. Pour granite sand over the entire pathway. Spread the sand with a broom, pushing it down into the spaces between the flagstones.

References

• Stone Forest: Dry Set Flagstone Walkway
• Building Materials 365: Flagstone Patio Installation