25 years ago I had to choose between stone dust and sand when laying a brick patio using standard sized bricks. The underlying ground here in Virginia is fairly high content clay, I can absolutely state that stone dust is the way to go.... here are a few pointers; 1. Use a rigid but moderately flexible edge guard to define the area. I used aluminum about 4 inches tall. Don's use something softer like plastic or nylon as it will flex and your bricks will start to migrate all over the place no matter whether you use sand or stone dust. 2 . Use 4 inches of stone dust, but apply 2 inches first...then compact it with a manual or mechanical tamper....then thoroughly soak with water and wait a couple of days before applying the 2nd layer of stone dust and tamping and watering again. (BTW, I really don't understand the comments about stone dust not draining well....you will see the water soak quickly through the stone dust.) 3. Make the area as level as possible using a screed (look it up :) 4. Install some water permeable landscaping membrane on a fairly well leveled area. This will promote drainage and stop weeds from infiltrating from below. I will also make it easier to slide the bricks into place. 5. Install the brick. Either full size bricks or the thinner pavers. I used full size bricks which are more stable. To ensure that the bricks are level with one another, place a piece of piece of wood (approx 3" x 8" by 3/4" ) across the surfaces of the brick you are working on and its adjoining bricks...then hammer it with a large mallet until they all the bricks are even. Give then some good wacks...full-sized bricks can take it so long as you use wood as a buffer. Be gentler with the thinner pavers. 6. Depending upon your personal preference, you can butt the bricks directly up against one another or place a think spacer between them. I use pieces of asphalt roofing shingles to maintain uniform spacing. I like the look and using spacers allowed me to adjust the alignment for bricks which may not be uniform size. 7. Regardless of which way you go on item 6, sweep stone dust into the joints between the bricks. Wet the area, let it dry and repeat again. The irregular shapes of the stone dust will lock the bricks into position much better than sand, which is more round. Sand will not get into some of the smaller joints between bricks. 28 years later I am still VERY happy with my results. Occasionally a nearby tree root will distort things a bit but that will happen with either sand or stone dust. I just remove a few bricks and cut out the root. The only periodic maintenance I need to do is sweep new stone dust in the spaces between the bricks one ever 4-5 years. Good luck.

Omg,i know this is from 2010 but for anyone looking for solutions on a same problem, its not the morter ,its not the floors its not deflection either that only happens years after tile has been installed, one simple trick the durock or concrete (never ever bare subfloor or over old tile thats is absolutely lazy dirty work) where you are installing must me wet,the tile must be wet everything must be wet,when concrete and durock soak up the water its creates suction. Same if tile is wet that does the trick,thats how it works in tuck pointing as well laying cinder block for commercial walls ,fyi never morter durock ever ever never had this problem but i fixed many do it yourself projects and so called jack of all trades or handymans poor quality work,even when licensed that doesnt mean they know what they are doing,look for experience and verifiable references , cant beleive no one knows this,this separates professionals from handyman being informed before messing with someones property thats all keep everything wet with a spray bottle

A click together floor - especially vinyl because it is thin and the click systems are vulnerable to damage - can be VERY difficult to lay in the "wrong" direction. It can double or triple the time to install when working backwards.....and be prepared for TWICE the "waste" when working backwards. If you want 2400sf of transitionless flooring then you REALLY need to pay the piper and GLUE IT DOWN. Yep. Glue down gets you want you want - cost will double for install....but you get away from transitions and you don't worry about working backwards. Glue down vinyl planks are WITHOUT the click edge....so there's no worry about which direction you need to work. Cost will be a factor. Some click together vinyl can have issues with "transitionless" spaces...while others do not. Some will advertise they have no problems when in fact they do. Large installs with vinyl on multiple levels/etc this gets very tricky to do it without transitions. And to be clear, transition strips are fairly cheap compared to a full glue down install. And it might be cheaper to use transitions than paying for MORE flooring (because of the waste/damage when installing backwards) and longer installation times (labor costs go up when you work "slowly"). There are some professionals who might not even attempt the "backward" install because they don't want the hassle, nor do they want to be blamed for damaging ALL THOSE PLANKS. Just a little FYI. If you REALLY MUST HAVE the "transitionless" floor - pay the piper and have it glued into place.

I just got an email from realstone systems, the tile manufacturer stating which adhesive to use for a warranty and the contractors lawyer just filed a mechanics lien on my property! This really pisses me off, he hasn’t even finished the other projects! He still has to wallpaper a wall, patch painting and redo a window glass install he didn’t match properly because I didn’t tell him which glass to use...my condo association isn’t happy about that! And just look at the discoloration!!