note: I also write DIY/how to articles on this subject, as well as offering one on one instruction by phone or email
New! Stone patio with mosaic elements, in Collegeville PA.
Newest:
Pennsylvania Bluestone Patios
Strength, beauty, and resonant warm character–flagstone just has a realness about it that no other type of hardscape paving material can touch.
I’ve written many how-to type articles, which explain a bit of how I do this work, why I recommend using the materials that I use. These articles help to:
- Establish myself as a knowledgeable expert on matters of natural stone hardscaping
- Help a DIYer out. As a pro, I still respect DIY. I even offer DIY phone consultations now
- make it easier for you to find me, especially if you seek high-end artistic stone work
I furthermore hope that my how-to blog articles can help raise the standard, generally speaking. People are getting back into real stone. For a decade or so there, there really was no natural stone hardscapes being built and the scene was ersatz stone and synthetic products. Now, that people are pulling away from faux products, and seeking out craft level real stone work, someone ought to educate the installers. Your present author has taken up this task himself, to that extent to which busy schedules have allowed.
works in stone:
Above: dry laid stone walkway in Wayne PA, and Patio in Ardmore PA
Email devin@devineescapes.com, flagstone contractor based in Pennsylvania, projects completed across the USA.
There is an elegance, beauty and a graceful simplicity that you can only get from natural stone paving.
My dry laid natural flagstone style changes, evolves over the years. There days, I’m going with a gap that is pinky width to thumb wide, generally. Not too perfect, but fairly tight and with a pretty even spacing–not four-inches to half an inch, but around one inch spacing. Too tight and it looks too contrived. I’m just not into saw cuts. I’ll use a saw (hammer and chisel too of course) but looking at it after it’s done, you wouldn’t know a saw was used.
Also, if the flagstone joints are too tight, it can make maintenance harder. The flagstones will just not stay 100 percent right, no matter how good you are. If the flagstones sit only an eighth of an inch apart, then after a few years, if one stone settles a bit, it will be more obvious. With a one inch joint, minor flagstone settlement is less obvious. But too wide of a joint can likewise become a maintenance issue, with joint material coming loose and stuff like that.
I’ve been doing flagstone work since 1997 in fact. I’ve done concrete, stained concrete, stamped concrete, concrete pavers–I’ve built all kinds of patios out of all sorts of materials. Dry laid flagstone wins. Since starting Devine Escapes in 2007, it’s been all about the natural stone. No time for faux. Nothing ersatz. Nothing psuedo. All Real Deal, all week long.
