i have a teensy, downtown backyard. by city standards it is a decent size, maybe 21 ft x 23 ft.
we moved in, in the spring and the previous owners neglected the back yard. i have tackled the weeds, moved a small cedar tree and now i am about to finish the fence. my husband wants a little patch of grass to grow (must be a male thing? ;) )
i want to put in a small patio, big enough for two chairs and a little table for two. we have sliding doors leading right to the grass (no steps).
what i want is something like a natural stone/flagstone patio with moss growing between the stones.
my question is, how much does something like flagstone cost? i have no idea how big it would be - maybe 10 ft x 4 ft? i am thinking sort of kidney shaped.
has anyone put in their own stone patio? what should i becareful of and look out for?
thanks all!
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We just finished our flagstone patio this year. Our lot is similar in size but we did almost 3/4 of it in flagstone. We did get some quotes for the job but all were in the $10,000.00 range. The problem is that this type of job is labour intensive. We dug out approximately 8" of grass had to order a dumpster and laid 6" of screening. We rented a compactor from home depot and left the screen for about 3 weeks to harden then we used about 6 tons of natural flagstone that we bought from a company that hastheir own quarry in Northern Ontario. We took the Wiarton stone it is a bit darker grey than I wanted( I wanted the buff) but I was assured by a few places that the sun will bleach it over the years to the colour I like.
Once the stone was laid approximately 2 weekend we pushed screen into the joints. The joints range from 1" to approximately 5".
We are now looking into planting the moss in the joint but may wait till the spring because we will need to scrape out some screening and fill with topsoil.
The reason we didn't fill the joint with topsoil right away was because we intended on planted moss sporadically over the next few years and didn't want to take the chance of the flagstone shifting when the topsoil washes away.
In total this project cost us $4000.00
I hope thi helps
We're also in the process of looking for patio stones. There are SO many options out there, it makes it really hard to choose!! Norm is right, your best bet is to check out all the stores that sell interlocking brick/patio stones and see what's out there, what's in your price range, and what appeals most to you.
If you see patios in your neighbourhood that you like, take pictures if you can and put together a little portfolio of all the things you like -- for examples, curved or straight lines, retaining walls, sections for plants.....
Personally, I like the look of tumbled stone. At least that gives me a starting point for what to look for. I also decided that I want brown stone, not gray -- that helps narrow the choices too :) A lot of patio stone/interlocking brick brochures include information on how to install them -- this might be another consideration for what product to choose.
It can be a pretty overwhelming task, so just take your time and make sure that what you select is what you really want. Good luck!! :)
If you check out builder supply places such as- Rona, Home Depot and authorized dealers for Unilock...they offer detailed instructions for installation. They also have a number of (free) glossy magazine type brochures for design ideas. My temporary solution was 24 X 24 inch patio stones with about 4 " between , grouped some pots in the corners, added a small table with umbrella, a BBQ and a playpen...very cheap and it worked. Norm