Gardenwebber sweetie, you really need to read books, not surf the net. The net is fine to pick up fragments of info, but you need a foundation for all those fragments, and just a little bit of time spent with some landscaping books will give you that. At your library or bookstore, new or used, just flip through a few. The most basic book on patios, for example, will explain about fitting flagstones together. You buy flagstone in the whole quantity that you need, and then you lay it out like a puzzle looking for the best possible fit into the space you want. If it doesn't fit together well, you get tools to cut/break it so that it does. What you have on site really doesn't sound like flagstone and as you've concluded it shouldn't be used as if it were. What you need, if you want to incorporate the stone you have into your landscape, is to assemble your site needs, your personal needs, your DIY ability, your gardening interest, and your materials and budget into a landscape plan. It's a big DIY undertaking, and that's why hiring someone to do it can be expensive. It's also a task that can be done badly, which is why, if you are up to your ears in family, stacking the stone on the back 40 and extending your concrete slab with a quick paver job or an extension of the slab might not be such a bad idea. Good luck KarinL

Parma, I love your WT, so pretty! Kismet, do you sew? Or have you found a good site for ready mades? Or do you want to hire custom mades? I think I would cover the windows to either side of the slider with the same drapes IF those windows are quite close. But that might require a very special custom made rod and HUGE curtains. To get your drapes/curtains to clear your slider, you just have to mount the rod so it's several inches wider than your window, allowing room to pull the drapes clear back off the windows. Maybe there is room for drapes to gather up opened between your slider and the windows? Another choice is to use some type of blinds (Roman, Balloon, Austrian, etc) that pull down from the top. That could look very pretty. The windows could also be grouped all together with one valance, again if they're close. Hard to advise without seeing a picture. Can you post one?

I wish this idea would work. I've seen beautiful photos of exactly what you're describing and we've had a few trees come down over the years that would provide more than enough pieces for a walk/patio but, they would rot and rot fast. I've cut a bunch to repurpose, some taller that we use to hold down the tarp covering a fire pit then use to sit on when the fire's going and some cut at varying heights that I sunk slightly for the little kids to walk across like an obstacle course. The ones directly touching earth are rotting faster than the ones spending the majority of their time on the tarp. Even the ones on the tarp are rotting fairly fast and insect infested. I actually use a few from the tarp as a backup supply of food for my pet tree frogs. If I run out of crickets I can move a few logs and collect enough termites to feed 10 frogs, and I can do this repeatedly during the day and still not run out! Quickly your pieces would turn mushy and while that would be ok for awhile for foot traffic, table and chair legs would sink right in, not to mention how many of the pieces would split and fall apart from the use. Only you can determine if the effort is worth it for a path/patio. Me personally, It wouldn't. It took me 30+ minutes to put the kids stepping logs in (approx. 5 logs that I had to bury deeper than you would for stability) and those I will have to replace yearly. Side note: I think, someone with more knowledge correct me if I'm wrong, the pieces have to be completely dry before any product could be applied. If that's accurate, you'll have to find a dry area free of insects to house them.

I think I know why framers are having trouble with the picture. First off that's either not an actual patio roof or one of sorry design. There's no laths for sheet metal it would rattle in the slightest breeze then blow off in anything above 40 mph wind. Another thing is wide angle focal length of camera lens make's the room look like half of a hexagonal roof like is popular on gazebos when in reality I believe it's actually a hip. I recommend a gable style roof with same pitch as house has. The width of new roof dictate's how far up old roof the ridge starts. Tear off shingles and alow rafters to rest on deck if decking is 1/2" or more plywood,5/8ths or more osb or 1x boards. If deck is thin,weak or unlevel,rest all jack rafters on a 2x6 with angle ripped along valley. Let's talk about complications. I would not rest beams on house,construct dedicated pillers against wall of house. The underside of new roof that's over old roof will be unattractive if framed as suggested above so you need to think about what to do about it. The simplest solution is framing in a wall to cover the void. If you want beams same as patio,reinforcment in attic will be required to transfer weight to walls of house. Since you have no ceiling and consequently no ceiling joists above patio,you will have to do something to prevent walls spreading under load of roof. You could install beams from plate to plate or even painted cables. If it were mine I would remove patio door,wall between door and window,window and possibly additional wall then install a lam-beam above. Where door and wall were removed,two pair of hinged double doors.