Why Can't You lay stone down on a sand bed on top of concrete?

15 years ago

If you lay brick pavers on a bed of sand, why couldn't you do the same with flat paving stones, arranging them (by cutting some of the rocks) as close together as possible so they won't move?

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Comments (5)

nomorebluekitchen
15 years ago
I just asked the stone guy this yesterday! He said that moisture will get through the sand and can't drain away because of the concrete, so we'll have expansion and contraction problems. He said if you're on the ground, no problem to lay in sand. If you're on concrete, you need to be mortared in.

Anita
User
Original Author
15 years ago
thanks, Anita. We have a concrete patio and walkway and would like to make it nicer without spending $15,000, which was our quote for stone paving. More than half of that was for labor to mortar the stones.
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One of my projects was taking kitchen counter-top scrap and placing it on a concrete slab. This solved a problem for the cost factor that the buyer wanted. He wanted a flagstone patterned, flattened, non skid surface that he could drive on with his vehicles and had natural stone. Doing this is labor and cost prohibitive using traditional 2-3in flagstones laid in sand bed with cement grout mortar as they are too unstable for vehicles to maintain integrity. Instead we did a cement pad to support the vehicles and laid a veneer over the top with the 1 inch scrap sedimentary types of stone. Then the polish was sand blasted which was messy but allowed use of larger pieces without slippage on the surface. The workers appreciated the less weight and inc safety of using the scrap as the same surface size could be manipulated by one person instead of 2-3 with traditional flag stone. Here is a picture of the finished site, not exciting but very utilitarian.
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homebound
15 years ago
You might consider concrete resurfacing companies. Some apply some sort of composite and finish it to look like whatever you want (eg. stone pattern with whatever grout lines you desire)
User
Original Author
15 years ago
I've seen that, homebound, and I just don't care for the stamped concrete. If we don't use stone we will probably stain and seal it, and then edge it in brick... we have a brick house and i do not want brick pavers, too---too much of a good thing.
homebound
15 years ago
Yes, but there are other options besides stamped concrete. I saw a ground level front porch redone with a composite and it was made to look like slate and it looked great.

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Why Can't You lay stone down on a sand bed on top of concrete?

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nomorebluekitchen

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Why Can't You lay stone down on a sand bed on top of concrete?

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nomorebluekitchen

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