Very Carefully. Thin set will not work down the road. Depending on the condition of the slab it might be possible to use high grade construstion adhesive after a big time cleaning and durning good weather. Check out a local to pick out the grout. J.

we had sort of the same type issue. We have a wooden deck on one side of the house, then this horrible dirt strip that wrapped around a patio and sidewalk to the front of the house. So we had to tie into an old concrete patio poured first, a newer brushed sidewalk poured some time later, and a wooden deck. We solved the thing by having new concrete poured over the entire dirt area. Then, a concrete restoration company came and stained all ages of concrete one color, taped it into random stones (you could do bricks or anything), stained it in about 4 colors, pulled up the tape and sealed the entire thing. It looks amazing, and was under $6000 in Southern California. This was about 700 sq. ft. You have a much smaller area, I think. I like the seating wall idea also!

I have what I think is the same aggregate for my driveway (1969 home). I am thinking about getting stamped concrete put directly on top of my existing driveway. They use an abrasive cleanser, then pour a thin layer of concrete over the existing, make designs with a trowel or rubber stamp and then stain it. It is a great option, especially if you want to set chairs on the patio and don't like to rock from the uneven flagstone. If you do it yourself, careful with the stain, it is a one shot deal and my wife wishes I would have found that out before I did our front porch. -joe

Sorry, just saw your reply. We wound up removing the footings (or, more specifically, we broke off something like the top 6 inches and buried what remained).