How we built a flagstone walkway
We just built this flagstone walkway for one of my oldest snow removal clients in Ajax this week. They told me that their dogs would run back and forth around this raised porch and create a mud path in the grass. A pathways would let the dogs run back and forth without making a mess. So we went to the stone supplier in Whitby to pick out some flagstone and ended up getting most of the front skid in this picture:
As usual, I always forget to take before pictures but here is a few minutes into removing the grass:
After removing the grass, we took out more dirt until the hole was around 4 inches below grade and slightly sloping away from the house. Then we tamped down the dirt layer before filling it with screening gravel. After each layer of gravel we tamped it again to make sure we had a solid base for our flagstone. After tamping some more, and the hole now only sitting about an inch below grade, we started laying the stone.
We started next to the existing pavers with the big square corner piece. Then adding more large pieces to both ends of the pathway working towards the middle always checking that the slope is still going away from the house. We’re using natural pieces of stone from quarries that don’t lay completely flat so we used a bucket of screening to level the stones as needed.
The next part is my favorite part about building flagstone walkways compared to interlocking pavers. Once we got all the big pieces in, instead of having to use a tub saw to make a million little cuts out of pavers that can be a few inches thick, we got to smash the flagstone pieces on the curb to create the small triangles and wedges used to fill the remaining spaces. Once all the small pieces were in, we sept more screening into the joints, sprayed it off, and we were done!
I think flagstone is a great way to add interest to any landscape while providing a flat, permeable surface to walk on. If you need help building your flagstone patio or walkway in Durham Region or Toronto, send an email with details about your project to scott@carrollpropertyservices.ca and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Thanks for reading!
Scott Carroll
Carroll Property Services
P.S. Here is a link to another patio I built years ago: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSuIBRRL7A5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MWhxOWptcHNyZWNwbA==
