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Gardening with Stone

Any tricks for leveling area for patio

19 years ago

hello - My husband and I are planning on putting in a thermal bluestone patio, size is roughly 30 ft. x 15 ft. We had a landscaping company come in (they were doing other work for us) and put down stone pack, then compact it, put down the lawnscape fabric and leave a bunch of stone dust. We want the patio to go away from the house and go down to one end of the patio. (the long side of the rectangle is against the house). I've read a lot about leveling, but are there any tricks? Do I just use strings and a regular level? Or do I get one of those levels with a beam?

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Comments (4)

bambooo
19 years ago
What you want are called line levels, they hang on a string.
These are what masons use as they work. Last ones I bought were about 2$ each.
Another approach is to flood the excavation and level things until the whole surface is evenly submerged .
Redhead_NC_Z7
19 years ago
Run several strings 4' or so apart in the direction you want the patio to slope. Set the stones level to the string, then, use a 2'x4' or metal T-square to level the stones next to them. No tricks....just alot of hard, tedious work. I'm in the middle of our my own patio project...my husband and I can work 4-hour stretches on it and are amazed that we've only set 5-6 stones, if we are lucky, in that time.
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Interesting idea. This could be quite cool if you laid the 'sheets' down in a creative pattern but then you would need to figure out a way to connect the pattern so it interlocks. It may be more aesthetically pleasing, less expensive and more of a DIY'er project to put down a dry laid flat stone or concrete paver patio ontop of a sand base. If you are going for a more modern approach large square and rectangle pavers will work. Or if going for a more rustic or traditional look large thick pieces of bluestone could work. You have a variety of options in how to finish the edging depending on on how you space and back fill the joints and seam the edges. Try looking at the website Houzz. type in the search bar : dry lay stone patio and see what comes up to inspire you. It sounds like a permeable surface is going to fit the bill due to the tree roots. photo below shows a modern dry lay 3x3 concrete paver path surrounded by black river pebbles and seamed at the edges with metal edging.
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GOOD GRIEF! I sanded down the BIN, wiped everything down with a tack cloth, and put on the 1-2-3. Good stuff. Went on like a dream, dried and leveled nicely, cleaned up fine. Waited 3 hours or so, and went to take a look and scuff sand with 330 grit. I *almost* didn't sand, because it looked so nice, but I try to be a good painter, so decided to suck it up and do it. There were 5-6 random places on the chest of drawers that the primer just rolled off with the sandpaper. What the...I could just scrape it off with my fingernail! Now, since these were just a few spots (I sure did go over the whole piece after that) I'm guessing that these were places that got missed with the scuff sanding and cleaning with paint thinner steps? This is a chest of drawers that was stained and varnished with poly 20+ years ago, so I *tried* to be diligent with the cleaning and sanding to get off any trace of old furniture polish. I used a 220 grit on those areas, got off anything that was peeling, smoothed with the 330 grit, cleaned with paint thinner, then recoated the primer. I'm leaving it alone until tomorrow, and will scuff sand again with the 330. I'm sorry to sound like such a newb, but I'm using totally different (hopefully better) materials than I have before, so I'm not sure what to expect. And I sure could use a pep talk. I'm tired, it's hot, my back hurts. I'm hoping that someday, my bedroom furniture will look nice.
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Comments (5)
I don't know how I double posted at 4:17 PM I wasn't even home!!!!! Good point about the hand tamper Marcinde, I didn't mention the gas tamper because it's not for a first timer without good instruction and experienced supervision, not a toy. I don't want to be too critical here but that patio isn't really a patio, it's a space with some furniture on it. I would get rid of the rock perimeter, they really aren't boulders. To me it's a tripping hazard and doesn't really serve a purpose. I might suggest you go online or to a big box store and get some design ideas for a patio for a natural setting and develop a plan before you do anything. A good design here really won't break the bank. My wife is an interior decorator but has some unique ideas here at our lakeside cottage. I'll show her and we will she if she has a suggestion for you.
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Comments (13)
Onthebrinck, that looks pretty decent. (But they don't look like 70 pound pavers.) You say "finished" but is there some kind of a retention device surrounding the edge that will keep the pavers from migrating outward? It's needed all around but especially where the grade is falling away. If there is not an edge restraint, the patio will self destruct. Not trying to be a naysayer, just alerting to what's inevitable. The edge restraint does not need to be visible at the surface.
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Twinkle
19 years ago
If the landscaping company has already put down a base and compacted it, did they not level and slope the base properly?

You can't use the top layer of sand or stone dust to create a drainage slope. Is this what you are trying to do? Or is that done already?
HobbyHeidi
19 years ago
I am having the same problem. I had to lay out the stones tonight to see what I had to work with and ended up with a rectangle shape that is coming out nicely but now I don't know what I am supposed to do. I guess mark it then dig around the outline then take the flagstones off, dig deeper on the higher ground than the lower ground, pour sand in and start the layout process all over again. I plan to grow moss between the cracks. I even bought some Irish Moss at the Home Depot and it's gorgeous. Any suggestions on leveling besides what's on here?

Feel free to email me personally HIWANIUK@AOL.COM

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