I did a search for "stone patio" on this forum, and turned up a bunch of old threads on the topic. There have been discussions about the pros and cons of various materials and construction techniques, as well as questions from DIYers. River pebbles or pea stone, or any rounded stones are going to be difficult to walk on, though they are pretty to look at. The smaller ones will shift around and if they are scattered onto a harder surface, will be like walking on marbles. Crushed stone, which has an irregular angular shape, will compact better, especially if mixed with a finer stone product. Ask at a local stone yard about what they have that will compact well. If you tell them what you are trying to do, they may suggest the appropriate material to use. You can blow large dry pieces of leaves and twigs off of crushed stone, but smaller pieces, especially if wet, will get stuck between the stones in time and create a nice environment for weed seeds to germinate. Be prepared to weed, and possibly to topdress with fresh stone once in a while. Read through the linked discussions, and find out which materials are available in your area. Whatever you do, digging out for the base and moving the stone is heavy work. Maybe you could hire a couple of guys for a day to help with the digging if it's too much to do alone? You'll also need a place to dump the mulch/soil you remove. If the area is accessible, maybe you could have the stone delivered and dumped where you need it so you just have to spread it? There have been some very interesting things done with recycled concrete chunks, try a search here and on the web in general for some ideas. If you can find a source for it and have a way to transport it, you might get your materials for free. Remember to Call Before You Dig, or whatever they call it where you live. Also, try the Gardening with Stone forum for more info. Here is a link that might be useful: stone patio

You know, it's interesting how when we travel to Europe or other parts of the world where we can see buildings several hundred years old, we appreciate the patina of age on things -- plaster showing its age, cracked stone paving, irregular color in brick, time-worn marble, and so on. In the US we always want to rip out the old, solid materials because of minor imperfectons, and replace them with something shiny, new, and not necessarily of equal quality. If there is a real problem with your tiles -- undermined and unstable surface, safety issues, water leaks, or whatever -- sure, replace them. But otherwise the older material has charm that pavers do not have, in particular with your nice brick wall and balusters. You'd want all your architectural elements to be speaking the same language.

Wanted to update the board with some before and after photos. I am almost done; I just have to finish off 1 corner by adding some more red tipple stone and I am going to level and place sod over the area to the left of the patio area. I heeded your advice and skipped the river stone and went with the more angular red tipple stone, and went with a flagstone patio in the middle, with granite blocks serving as a border around the flagstone. Overall, considering my Dad and myself are total amateurs at this, I am very happy with how it came out. The patio area is 12 x 12 and consists of 36 24 x 24 1.5 inch Flagstone pavers. thanks KJ before with mulch on top of a blue tarp: afters:

We are in a real mess because of bad concrete on an almost 4 year old pool. The entire 1000 square feet is failing. It started showing signs of problems from the first week. Our builder has been evasive and defensive concerning this issue. Finally he said "call my lawyer." So, even though it is not "our style," we are forced to go the lawsuit route. We have paid about $1000 for a core sample which said it was a bad mix due to lack of entrained air, and needed to be entirely torn out and replaced. We have spent MONTHS trying to get an estimate on the tear-out and replacement. No one wants this kind of job! Finally today we should get a written estimate which is likely going to be about $16,000. I am very concerned about what else might break as the concrete is being chopped up. I keep wondering if the replacement should be something other than concrete......