A Giant Puzzle: Part Two of our DIY Flagstone Patio

This is the second in a series of how we (as in my Honeyman, a few of my kids and myself) built our beautiful Flagstone Patio.

I've always enjoyed the challenge of a good puzzle. This phase of our Flagstone Patio was the ultimate puzzle experience. With the foundation superbly in place, read about that experience here, and four tons of flagstone to choose from, we were ready for the next step.

Laying the Stone

Having never done this before, we were on a high learning curve.
At first it really was like assembling a puzzle. We'd lay out stones on the grass and in the flower beds to view the shapes so that we could find the perfect piece for the space.  

"I'm looking for an obtuse triangle" someone would shout out.  

"Got one! Try this." 

"Alabama... do you see one shaped like Alabama?"

 It really was like a game.

 

You can imagine using this method took a lot of time and eyes to find the perfect stone for each space.

Ace helper adjusting his tunes

As we began the second half of the patio and there weren't as many stones to choose from, it became harder and harder to find the perfect stone. It was evident that we would have to cut the stones to alter their shape.

We tried the chisel method of scoring the stone, using a hammer and chisel on the scored line to break the stone where it needed to be altered. This worked... sometimes, but was essentially a frustrating experience when the stone broke the wrong way, which happened often. There had to be better way. 

Keep in mind that we could have bought pavers with nice uniform edges that fit together perfectly.  But that was not the look we were going for. We wanted a stone patio that looked not so formal... a little more country.

What to do, what to do...

Fortunately I married a smart man, and what he doesn't know, he figures out. Out comes the circular skill saw and after purchasing a masonry blade, we were in business once again. We now had the ability to make the stone fit the space.  Not wanting perfectly squared edges, he would lightly tap with a hammer after using the saw to make the edges look more natural. 

After the stones were all in place, we needed to make the surface  level from stone to stone. My Honeyman used a 2x4 to spot the areas that needed adjustment and a level to level the surface of the stones, carefully lifting up each stone and raising or lowering the sand as needed. This took a whole lot of time, but it was essential to our desired outcome of near perfection. :)


Up next... Filling in the Gaps.  Stay tuned!