flagstone versus pavers, cost and value

Devin Devine, contractor based out of Blakeslee Pennsylvania, projects competed across the USA
contact devin@devineescapes.com

Yes, I still offer phone consultations

DIY hardscape/masonry/flagstone help rates:

$123.00 for one hour

$80 for a half hour

Monies are payable via Venmo, paypal  or zelle.

vin@devineescapes.com

 

flagstone versus pavers: cost and value comparison

Are you thinking about having a patio, walkway or front porch built and trying to decide which is better suited to you–natural flagstone or pavers?

 

The hardscape industry has really grown and grown, over the past couple of decades. New products come out every single year….it should be noted that the majority of the new products are concrete pavers that try, in one way or another, to mimic natural stone. They’ll have names like “old cobble” or by-lines like “rustic” or even “______stone”. I’ve seen Devon stone, chapel stone, corner stone etc–all for concrete products–for imitation stone.

 

Let’s just bottom line it right up front: flagstone costs more than pavers. The material itself costs a bit more and the labor to install it costs more. A true professional flagstone guy, whether a mason, waller or good landscaper–is going to have years of experience. Natural stone, to do it well, is an art.

Average price for pavers installed in South Eastern Pennsylvania and surrounding tri-state region=19.00 to 25.00 dollars per square foot.

Average cost for flagstone installed in Pennsylvania and surrounding region…is harder to really put a solid number on. It’s harder to compare apples to apples….when one guy installs flagstone with 8″ wide gaps, barely even trying to fit them nicely, and another guy takes his time, knows what he’s doing, and makes the job look awesome. For a decent job on flagstone….you might pay an average of 40-60 per square foot.

many factors play in

• is the company reputable?If so, they should have testimonials to back that up.
• is the company qualified? If so they should have photos that support such a claim. (many companies claim to do natural stone work, but the you check their portfolio and 90% of the work is pavers. What does this tell you? Well, why would a skilled steak chef have a portfolio of only big macs? Answer: cause the guy is a big mac pro, not a true steak guy.)
• Is the job large or small? Are there a lot of borders? For example, a walkway is all border, therefor more cuts=higher cost per square foot than a patio. Corners, borders and edges just take more time. For flagstone or pavers….or just about any trade work, really. Like house painting: a big blank wall you can’t paint in a few minutes. But a wall (of the same size or smaller) with multiple windows, a door, and trim carpentry, all of this extra border space–is going to take a lot longer.
• what type of stone is going to be used? Dimensional flagstone aka “pattern-cut” (squares and rectangles) is usually going to cost a lot less installed, compared to irregular (natural shaped) flagstone. The material cost itself may be similar, but the time and skill involved in fitting irregular flagstones together is going to be considerably more.
• How big are the joints? How consistently spaced are the joints? Dimensional flagstone is usually cheaper to install–but if you want the joints to be uniform width–then most of the stones will need to be cut, in order to regularize the sizes, as they come from the quarry cut to nominal size.

 

 

flagstone versus pavers: value

But what about value? As stated before, most pavers are trying, in one way or another, to imitate stone. They frequently even call their products “stone” Which is totally unfair and misleading. And cheesy. Velveeta and kraft, have to call their faux cheese “cheese food product” or something like that. It’s a legal requirement. It is my considered opinion on that matter (ahem, 24 years professional hardscape experience) it is my opinion that these paver companies should not be allowed to call their products flagstone, chapel stone or anything “stone”…..but rather they should call them “cheese stone product” or something similar.

Pavers…and their prominence in modern hardscaping can be traced down to two things: the disappearance of the American Craftsman and the rise of the wall-mart mentality, or the ikea mentality.

An analogy may serve: A  paver patio is like an ikea item….. a flagstone patio is like fine cabinetry. Can you tell the difference between the two? How about this one: wonder bread versus artisan bread. Can you tell the difference? Seriously–I am a five star food establishment, please do not call me looking for a big mac. You want to talk gourmet, feel free to give me a call.

Related articles:

• gloassary of terms
• how to level flagstone in stone dust

Tools needed for flagstone installation:

• grabo, the hot new vacuum lifter that makes lifting flagstones a bit easier. My review can be found HERE.
• dead blow type mallet. Many types to choose from….lately I mostly use my rawhide mallet, but the rubber headed modern style .deadblow is in my tool bucket too, and I’ll use whichever is closer on hand.
• brick hammer, for cutting flagstone.
• with diamond blade. .
• Angle grinder. Same one I use. Keep this on hand for cuts that the hammer won’t successfully make, or that will take too long with the hammer
• Diamond blades.
• Brick chisel.
• A couple of 5 gallon buckets (for stone dust, when leveling stones)….shovel, wheel barrow…..4′ level
• Pick maddock. Best way to dig. Break up soil with this, then use a spade shovel.
• Knee pads–essential.
• Hand tamper and/or plate compactor. For 100 square foot or less, I’d just use the hand tamper. Bigger than that–you might want to rent a plate compactor.

 

 

And now for the very bottom line:

If you appreciate quality, then go with flagstone.

If you just want something affordable…then go get pavers. I may just have to wash my shoes, and my eyeballs, with hot soapy water afterwards, if I ever come over for lunch on your patio. Perhaps I overstate the matter, slightly. If you appreciate quality, but can’t afford to pay for quality, then you may consider building it yourself. Information for my DIY consulting services is located below.

 

 

DIY Flagstone and Hardscape help

My rates for DIY phone consultations (email consultations, skype/video chats) are as follows:

$80.00 for a half hour consultation

$123.00 for a full hour

Monies are payable via paypal, venmo or zelle. (add $4 for paypal orders)

Thanks for reading! Oh and here’s a video of some of the things I’ve done with stone: