Dry Laid Flagstone Repair

Well, I've got a lot to say lately....been updating my other blog almost nightly. Rather than crowd that blog too much, I think I'll open up this blog again, put some of my thoughts up here.


So let's talk about a recent patio repair job. Customer had a 450 square foot patio that needed re-leveling, needed weeds removed, new stone dust swept into the joints, and a general bucking up.

Job took one day for myself plus two helpers. Wish I had a good photo of them on my computer--seriously, good job fellas!

Anyway, we got the job done early and came in under budget--since this is repair work, I gave the client our hourly rate, material estimate and a couple of numbers, a high number and a low. We came in closer to the low. I love it when that happens. Happens often lately...I think I may be getting good at this. Anyways.

How we repaired this stone patio:

1. We set up some string lines, checking for elevations and deciding what area of the patio needed to be raised, what areas needed to be lowered and what areas just needed minor adjustments. Most of the stones were slightly off, some were dangerous trip hazards, some puddle-prone, sank-in areas existed.

2. We lifted up almost every single stone, one at a time. Re-leveling each stone individually. Re-leveling the flagstone involved digging, as needed, re-compacting the foundation with a hand tamper and adding stone dust to raise the flagstones, as needed.

3. Removed any weeds and soil that still existed in the stone joints after leveling. Used the chisel end of a rock-pick style mason's hammer for this part., used a large flat-head screw driver for the tighter joints.

3. Noting that we were coming in under budget, i decided to do a few small extras--took the time to scrape up moss that had actually grown upon the surface of some of the stones. Also, we took the soil that had been collected from beneath the higher stones and from within the stone joints, and used it to correct a nasty trip hazard that existed in the lawn right by the patio.

4. Swept stone dust into the stone joints.

5. Hosed down the joints to settle in the stone dust.

6. Top off stone dust again if needed. Leave the customer with a 5-galloin bucket half-way filled with stone dust in case the joints need topping off again. Likely, the joints will need to be topped-off once within the next year. After that, the material should be stabilized enough that more topping off shall not be nessesary.

Future patio maintenance recomendations would be that the patio could use a few hours of attention from a qualified mason maybe once every 2 or 3 years--not really nessesary, but it would help the patio to sparkle a bit more. In reality the patio should be fine without any additional work, for a good decade or so.

Customer even wrote us a review and posted it on yelp:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/devine-escapes-tamaqua

" I was scouring the web for some advice on how to affordably even out an old, lumpy stone patio. Devin, though fairly far from my neck of the woods, was kind enough to offer up some free advice. Then, after a bit more back-and-forth, he agreed to cross the river to NY and tackle my job.

He and his crew showed up right on time, and in one day had my old patio looking great. I know he's capable of much more artful work than mine, but based on how quickly, efficiently and professionally he handled my job, I'd heartily recommend him for any stone and/or landscaping work."

Thanks Andrew!