Archive for September, 2009

Visit the Portage Park in Chicago and you would understand why flagstone is being spoken of so highly by a lot of people. This place has decorations all done up by using flagstone. Castles in England, Wales and Scotland have enough quantities of this wonder stone. So really, flagstone’s correlation to modern day architecture is not surprising at all! But that being said, a lot of flagstone’s popularity came through from ancient times when contractors didn’t mind using this stone for constructing apartments and castles.

The way it is found in nature, it is also known as flat stone. The multitude of uses of flagstone comes to the fore when you know they are also used in cemeteries. These stones are used in cemeteries to make memorials or headstones on the top of a person’s grave. What people didn’t know about flagstone was that it is also known as Pennsylvania Bluestone.

Flagstone is not a stone that is rare, it’s something you could easily purchase in a city near to you. The types of flagstone available may vary depending on what part of the country you live in and what type the stone supplier has in stock.

Did you know that you could use flagstone to build beautiful patios and walkways?

One of the interesting aspects of flagstone, is that they hardly permeate water. This makes them an excellent product to be used on patios and walkways. More importantly, they don’t really conduct heat on the surface of the stone. Making walking on a flagstone walkway would be a memorable experience.

Craig has years of experience installing flagstone, He’s picked up many tip and techniques along the way making working with flagstone very easy. His speculates is installing flagstone patios, paths and walkways.

He’s complied all techniques in an easy to follow step by step guide, taking you by the hand every step of the way, it contains real example photos as he installs a dry laid flagstone patio.

If you planning on installing a patio or path then checkout his guide “how to flagstone patio” , you can also contact him with any question you may have in regards to your project.

Johnny B

Install A Flagstone Walkway In 8 Hours

Flagstone always adds natural beauty to any path/walkway, but many people feel that it something only a professional can do.Installing a flagstone walkway just like the one below should only take you one or two days even if you’ve never installed flagstone before. Following my easy step by steps guide: How To Flagstone Patio

Here is the old interlock walkway:

Interlock Walkway

Here is the Flagstone walkway after 8 hours of work, during these 8 hours I hauled the old interlocking brick  to the dump and picked up the flagstone and all material required. Once I had all pieces of flagstone ready I installed the walkway.

Photo below is just before filling the joints:

Flagstone Path

Going to re-take the final photo as it didn’t come out very clear:

Finished Flagstone Walkway

Have a comment or question? I want to hear them and help if I can, use the comment area below to ask or leave a comment.

Picking A Site For Your Flagstone Patio

Determining where the best location for your patio will depend on the property, before deciding on a location try asking yourself: How is the flagstone patio going to look with all the surrounding landscape.

Most patios are installed in the back yard and attached to the house, giving homeowners a beautiful outdoor sitting and eating area that they can access without walking across the garden. Before deciding on the location and size of your patio, I recommend taking into account what area is most unused, most private from the neighbors if you have any, shelter from the wind and what area is going to have the best view.

One common mistake many people make when installing a flagstone patio is making it far to small. When designing the shape and size, don’t forget take into account the amount of space a table and chairs will take up.

The patio doesn’t need to be rectangular or square, irregular flagstone patios look beautiful with curves  and flares. Take a look at the surrounding area. Do you see lots of straight lines or curves?

Maybe you have flowerbed that all have straight edges, it doesn’t take much work to turn a flowerbed into a curves/rounded flowerbed, altering the surrounding area to fit the patio shape/design is another option.

Checkout some of my Flagstone Patio Pictures for more ideas, if you plan on installing the patio yourself checkout my step by step guide “How To Flagstone Patio

A flagstone walkway once finished will show off the unique irregular shapes and sizes of the flagstone. Flagstone has a flat surface making it the ideal product to use for walkways and patios. Having irregular size and shaped flagstone to work with proves suitable in free-form and geometric designs.

To help keep the formality of the walkway design, try keep all straight edges to the outside or use some form of geometric edging like dimensional wall stones or maybe interlocking bricks. If the flagstone is fitted tightly and has a nice clean edge the walkway will have a beautiful yet formal appearance.

Flagstone that’s spaced out more widely creates a more rustic looking walkway, but is often easier to install and gives you the option of growing plants or grass between the flagstone walkway. Thyme and moss works great in walkways because they can withstand high traffic.

Straight or Curved Walkway?

Curved walkways are far more natural looking and pleasing to the human eye, curves are often necessary when working around flowerbeds, trees and other objects. Visualizing the design of a flagstone walkway that contains curves and flares is often done using garden hose pipes. Using the garden hose to simulate the outer edge of the walkway.

A flagstone walkway that’s installed correctly is going to be nice and sturdy, whether it’s installed in cement on a concrete base, dry laid and installed in sand or crushed limestone. Installing flagstone in cement is generally the more expensive and time consuming but it will be maintenance free for years to come. A dry laid walkway often requires a small amount of maintenance pulling weeds and sweeping.

I’ve installed many flagstone patio, paths and walkways over the years, you can see some of the projects here:
Flagstone Walkway Pictures.

With years of experience installing flagstone, I’ve picked up many different tips and techniques along the way making working with flagstone very easy. I’ve complied all my techniques in an easy to follow step by step guide, the guide takes you by the hand and contains real example photos as I install a dry laid How To Flagstone Patio.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_L_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Flagstone-Walkway—Planning-on-Designing-a-Curved-Flagstone-Walkway?&id=2859893

  
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