My thoughts are exactly along catkim's lines. But I would just leave a very small opening (because it's only hard to pry out the first brick, and then you can always enlarge it). For a vine, you actually need just a very small opening into the ground. If you leave just two bricks out, let's say, you will be able to enlarge it if you like and the majority of your patio will be well-laid and leveled, plus the space for those two bricks will be pretty exact. Leave a bigger space than that, and it will be tricky to fill it in well. The thing about leaving a full bed the length of the stairs is everything from mess to weeding/making more mess (and dirt on patio = weed seeds sprouting on patio in the cracks), but also the risk of dropping a chair leg off the edge of the stone into the dirt. This patio is going to feel SMALL for the furniture you have in mind. I don't think you should shrink its effective size. Also keep in mind that your doorway is recessed and quite dark. A vine will make it feel and look more closed in, in case that matters to you. And these big perennial vines can get pretty overwhelming. I personally love clematis and would probably put one there, but I'm not sure I would put it in the ground. You could leave it in a pot, and always cut it back to the ground (or bottom two buds if a B-type) every year. And once it gets too vigorous (as many do after three or four years), you might like to put in a new one. This is very tricky to do in the ground adjacent to a patio without damaging the patio. Maybe some annual vines would be more fun. Again, way easier in a container. Plus, the container gives you another decor item to have some fun with. On the other hand, it takes up some space. So I would lay and tamp the whole patio but for two bricks. Undoing it later from there if you want a bigger bed is way easier than filling it in. You can minimize the crush layer in that area if you really feel you will want to open it up. By the way, is there a basement here? If so, you want your subgrade to tilt away from the house. Karin L

Thanks for the many responses. Sorry about the vagueness of the terminology. I was talking about mortar vs. sand when dry laying bricks. We're still in the middle of the project. It's been interesting. Bahia, I'm glad you agree and would not be "inclined to fault someone for not being able to fully explain the process in english." These were not workers we obtained ourselves at a "shape-up" outside Home Depot. The contractor was hired at full-dollar, and these are workers he obtained. And I do fault the contractor for switching crews mid-project and substituting a crew who had an entirely different conception of what the project is. Fortunately, I have many bilingual neighbors who can help with translating. Today we've made it clear we want a 2-inch bed of sand, as promised, and that they will have to dig deeper to accommodate that. Half inch of sand won't cut it. We've hired a lowboy Dumpster to put all the soil and broken concrete in, something the contractor promised to do but reneged on. We do not want them disposing of four 3x3 foot slabs of concrete from an old jacuzzi pad we inherited by BURYING them underneath where the patio is supposed to go, as they were doing yesterday. Just intuitively, that would seem to invite uneven settling of the patio. This was all hashed out before work started with the first crew. The second crew was not properly informed by the contractor and was improvising with disposal of debris, since nobody wanted to cut into their profits by renting a lowboy. So these guys have to dig up the concrete, break it up, and they're piling it up on trees, wherever they can. Do twice the work, in other words. In record 97-degree heat. And they thought 1/2 inch of sand would be OK because where in hell is all that excavated dirt going to go with no lowboy to put it in? Seemed like such a simple job, one we've done many times ourselves, except our backs aren't what they were 20 years ago. We think we're all on the same page. We'll see what happens.

I have to agree with Brick on this one. The main issues that arise with Heil,tempstar,goodman and many others is that pretty much anyone can sell/install them or the majority of them which means you sometimes get the short end of the stick on the installation. I will also say that the refinement isn't usually up to par with your Rheem/Ruud,Lennox/American standard,Carrier/Bryant and a few other brands. What I mean is the cabinets and fans/blowers tend to be more noisy. I had a tempstar heat pump and ICP (company name that makes the tempstar) air handler 3.5 ton with 20kw heat strip 13 seer 8eer. If the blower came on while watching tv you had to turn it up cause of the vent noise and this was even after rebuilding the air ducts on a new home. I replaced it with a Ruud 3 ton 15 seer 10.5 eer and 15kw heat strip and we can watch tv with the air handler running and can't hear the outside unit inside the house. The old one used to roar if you went in the 2nd bedroom and it was on. I nicknamed the original installer flat line because that was his brainwaves. I did rebuild and seal the ductwork with mastic like it should have had in the first place which helped TREMENDOUSLY on comfort and noise but it was still obnoxious. The new system is so much nicer but if the old system wasn't t-totally bare bones I would probably be satisfied with it also. No matter what you do I recommend at a minimum Demand Defrost which will pay for itself quickly. TXV (thermal expansion valve) which will keep the humidity much lower than a non txv and allow you to be comfortable at a higher temp in the summer which saves $$$$ also. If possible a variable speed blower motor. On top of these things.. the highest seer/best numbers you can get for your money. OH and find a installer who has a brain and don't just take it out and play with it. I am very happy with my Ruud.

Imo, It's going to be hard to get in there to compact the ca unless maybe you do it in one or two inch increments. If it were my project, I would just bite the bullet and go concrete although some fence post setters are just doing all gravel, no crete. I think it would depend on location and extremes concerning freezing, thawing, ground movement, etc. Asphalt emulsion is a Henry's product and can be purchased wherever Henry's roofing products are sold. They make roofing cements, coatings, emulsions, etc. Home cheapo has it here were we are, you might check in with them or any reputable hardware store such as Ace. If they dont stock it, more than likely they can order as long as they carry Henry's products.