How Long Does It Take to Complete a Flagstone Patio?
A flagstone patio adds textural contrast and a versatile outdoor living area to your landscape. Building a flagstone patio is a project you can do yourself. The process is laborious, but the resulting surface will be strong, weather-resistant and last for years. Typically, a flagstone patio can be completed over two- to three days. If your surface is much larger than 10-by-12 feet, set aside four days to complete each step properly. Does this Spark an idea?
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Planning the Design
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It's advantageous to set aside an hour or two to sit in your yard and make a design plan for the patio. As you decide on the shape, consider the amount of privacy and sun the area receives. You can measure out a size and shape in about 20 minutes, but consider a few possibilities before committing. Rectangular patios are more straightforward to install, but flagstones have irregular shapes that accentuate a round patio.
Excavating the Site
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The first step in constructing a flagstone patio is excavation of the site. You'll need to make neat cuts around the border of the patio and dig down 8 inches deep for the gravel and sand foundation. Depending on the size of your site, digging out for the foundation can take 3- to 4 hours. Drink plenty of water and take breaks while you dig. Dig in the morning before the sun is directly overhead, if possible. If your patio is near the home, you'll need to dig an additional 1/8-inch deeper for every foot of distance from the building to grade the site for drainage.
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Creating the Foundation
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The quality of the patio foundation is crucial to the stability and longevity of any dry-laid patio. Your first layer will be a 6-inch bed of 3/4-inch highway gravel. Irregularly shaped, the highway gravel will fit together tightly when you compact it. The length of time it takes to pour the gravel depends on your method. For quickest results, transport it with a wheel barrow and tilt the wheelbarrow into the site. Once the gravel is spread, running a compactor machine over the surface three times can take several hours, then adding a 2-inch layer of sand can take another hour. For both the gravel and sand, dragging a 2-by-4 inch piece of wood over the top efficiently spreads it out.
Laying Flagstones
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Setting your stones in place and filling the sand joints is the final step in building a patio. Placing each flagstone involves leaving the smallest amount of space between the stones as possible. Once in position, level each stone with the surrounding stones before moving on to the next. This process can take 15 minutes for each stone until you get the hang of it. Flagstones are cut or split so they are flat, but the thicknesses will vary slightly. You'll need to add sand for some stones and remove it for others to make them even so you don't have any trip hazards.
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References
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- Photo Credit stone walkway image by Alexey Chesnokov from Fotolia.com
