I did a search for "stone patio" on this forum, and turned up a bunch of old threads on the topic. There have been discussions about the pros and cons of various materials and construction techniques, as well as questions from DIYers. River pebbles or pea stone, or any rounded stones are going to be difficult to walk on, though they are pretty to look at. The smaller ones will shift around and if they are scattered onto a harder surface, will be like walking on marbles. Crushed stone, which has an irregular angular shape, will compact better, especially if mixed with a finer stone product. Ask at a local stone yard about what they have that will compact well. If you tell them what you are trying to do, they may suggest the appropriate material to use. You can blow large dry pieces of leaves and twigs off of crushed stone, but smaller pieces, especially if wet, will get stuck between the stones in time and create a nice environment for weed seeds to germinate. Be prepared to weed, and possibly to topdress with fresh stone once in a while. Read through the linked discussions, and find out which materials are available in your area. Whatever you do, digging out for the base and moving the stone is heavy work. Maybe you could hire a couple of guys for a day to help with the digging if it's too much to do alone? You'll also need a place to dump the mulch/soil you remove. If the area is accessible, maybe you could have the stone delivered and dumped where you need it so you just have to spread it? There have been some very interesting things done with recycled concrete chunks, try a search here and on the web in general for some ideas. If you can find a source for it and have a way to transport it, you might get your materials for free. Remember to Call Before You Dig, or whatever they call it where you live. Also, try the Gardening with Stone forum for more info. Here is a link that might be useful: stone patio

I think if I was placing brick pavers or field stone I would most definely want to use the 1B (pea gravel). Because the 1B is smaller, the percentage of voids after compaction is less. This means that you have a lower likelyhood of the 1B settling after construction. If it was me I would probably use the 1B as base under concrete also. The key to success with this whole project is proper compaction. That is why one contractor told you to they wanted to put concrete under the brick pavers. That way the pavers could not settle. I would certainly not remove the material. Stone reaches 70% compaction at the time that it is dumped, not to mention its been sitting for a while settling. Its pretty compact. Just to be on the safe side I would make the contractor go over the area with a tamper to compact it ever further. You have to think about what elevation you want your walkway at, then go down 4" for the thickness of the concrete/ fieldstone/ brick pavers. That will be the elevation of your stone. Think about if you have enough stone in place, after compaction, to achive that. If the awnser is no, then compact the 1B you have, and add the stone or sand that the conctractor of your choice wants to use, then your paving material. I hope this helps

quote" Why did the buyer bail on bluestone? "quote Because I'm a Wussy and let them change to Oklahoma multicolor. Most of my competitors won't let a buyer out of his choices. I have buyer compassion when it comes to changes. If I'm told before the work starts on tile and coping they can make a change without additional charges as long as the product is of equal or lesser value. At any given time I have lots of pallets of rocks behind the shop so I really don't lose any sleep over it. I'm not sure if it's select or full color, heck I couldn't even tell you if it's from Pennsylvania. I'll be going to the shop this afternoon and will take a digital camera to snap some shots of the pallets. See ya, Kelly

Thanks to all of you! We had river rock mulch at our last house and though it looked nice, it was tough to walk on when weeding. We had the smaller pea gravel with a flagstone path too, but the pebbles were forever slipping around. I was hoping it was because it was on a slope ... but maybe not. I'd really like something I could step out on barefoot because, like lukki, I am a confirmed shoe hater. What about plain old sand? We have a small sandy beach area out by the lake. Would it be weird to have another one in the front yard? We could border it with a strip of river rock and pavers and low plantings. What do you think? I'm thinking a semi-circle under the big window and then some kind of wind-y more narrow bed with taller plants to continue under the smaller windows. Then maybe some ornamental grasses or something even taller at the end. A tree?