Hi, I just wanted to let those interested know what tips I have learned in designing/building stone block edging around my entire house with an integral flagstone patio. I didn't want colored concrete blocks or rubber edging. I decided on Minnesota Kasota (limestone) natural stone (sized) blocks & 2" flagstone sheets. I contacted a quarry and showed him my design I made on graph paper. He walked around and measured the square footage required to make an entire 8" (two 4" blocks high) curved garden wall above ground, 4-5 feet from my house (except in back of house for the wrap around above grade flagstone patio) that I will backfill with blackdirt, weed barrier, and 3 " of decorative stone or mulch on top. Getting back to the purchase of my stone, I went direct through the quarry and avoided the middle man. I was able to get wholesale price with discount and reduced shipping charge. The order was for 19 tons of tumbled stone retaining blocks (sized 4" thick x 8" wide X radom lengths)and 2" flagstone. I needed about 6000 linear feet of block. I started out by buying 1.5" pvc pipe with couplers to make nice uniform curves/semicircles around my house held by stakes, then spray painted lines around for the block following the natural grade of my yard. (This method worked much better than garden hose). I rented a trencher with a 4" block blade and followed the line around three times so I had a nice trench 12" wide X 4" deep. I shoveled out the dirt and cut landscape fabric in the base. I then put in compactable gravel that I hand tamped 1" below the sod. I then started setting blocks in the trench and found just the right lengths/ slightly angled pieces I needed in the pallets of stone blocks. I then started on the second layer overlapping the joints by 5" inches or so. After the second layer was on, I removed the top layer and placed them on the ground facing up. I then brushed /swept the surfaces then applied block glue to each one and put them back. One area by my garage needed to go up 5 feet of block, so I just kept stacking/gluing blocks except I moved in each row 3/4" above previous row. Now for the raised flagstone patio. Now that I had a nice curved block wall 8" high, I filled/raked 4" high compactable gravel inside, rented a compacter and went over it 4 times. I strung lines across the top of the 8" high block and measured down the thickness of the flagstone (2"-3/8" for sand compaction) and layed long lengths of old 1.5" waterpipes on top the gravel surface and shimmed the pipe up with wood up to where the bottom surface of the flagstone should be. I then shoveled in course washed sand on top of the gravel/pipes and using a long 2x4 resting on top of the pipes to screed the sand flat. Now I started laying flagstone. The flagstone was in big square sheets, so I tipped them onto the ground, and if they didn't break, I took a splitting axe and hit in the middle several times until it broke into smaller pieces that were still at least 2-3 feet in size. Take on piece at a time and lay it onto the sand, then take each matching piece and lay adjacent leaving a 1.5" gap for motar or sand. Continue this process like a jigsaw puzzle. When you have to cut or trim, I used my kid's sidewalk chalk to mark lines/cuts. Then use a stone chisel / hand sledge hammer to chisel along line two times to score a line. I then rap one end of the stone with the butt of the sledge and it breaks clean along the line. If needed, chisel away any ragged edges. Work from one edge outwords using large pieces, then going back and filling in any smaller pieces. As you go along, try to keep edges of flagstone nearly flush. If you disturb the sand as you going along, use a cement trowel to smooth out. When your all done fitting, you can fill joints in one of two ways; buy SANDLOC and mix with sand and water, then put into joints, or what I am doing is mix 1/3 cement with sand and put in joints, smooth and wash away rest from flagstone using sponge. These are the only two things I would do for patios to make sure ants don't start drilling or plants/weeds don't start. Good Luck, Hope this helps.

Hi jeff, I don't see anything wrong with what you plan. The only suggestion I have is to use crushed limestone instead of sand. Give it a good tamping down, a mist of water and tamp again...it makes for a very solid base whereas sand, because of rainfalls, can leatch into the soil and eventually you will get dips. Sand also tends to sift through the smallest places when really dry.

Being a professional landscaper as well as living in the PNW, your best options are using either more of 1/4" minus or sand to fill the gaps or soil with moss or groundcovers. The 1/4" probably offers the best permeability. It does compact very satisfactorily so should not be a concern migrating endlessly across the flagstone. I have seen all three methods work equally well.......it is just a matter of what you prefer and what you consider to be the easiest solution. ETA: hopefully you also factored in an appropriate slope (1-2% or a 1/2" fall over a span of 4') to the patio construction. That is very necessary and should satisfactorily address any pooling of water issues.

Basically, I don't know what I want, other than to fix the drainage issues. I'm just not sure logistically if option 2 is even an acceptable/appropriate option. I basically have been asking people what they would do to fix how it's settled. Budget is on the basic side as we still have to regrade and replant the front and fix the leaking cracks in the basement. I don't really want to excavate the front and reparge the foundation wall because we're in a townhouse, so that gets really complicated. And there's not enough leaking to need an interior French drain. Was hoping that regrading the walkway and the dirt/plants would be the first thing to try as it's not crazy expensive. I could wait on the walkway and just do the regrading and plants, but that seems a little silly.... The whole row of townhouses has had water issues this past year and no one has excavated anything. Companies want $20k to do that. The HOA is working on implementing some kind of drainage solution for the entire row, so I also don't really want to excavate till we see if that solution helps our basement. I hate basements. :-\