Saw a simple trick for leveling flagstone paths at the garden center

I overheard a landscaper at Lowe's say you can use a long 2x4 and a carpenters level to check the slope before you even lay the first stone, and it saved me from having to redo my entire walkway this weekend. Has anyone else tried using dry sand instead of mortar for setting the stones?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly.charlie22d ago

Wait, are you telling me I could have avoided the whole mortar disaster I had last spring by just using dry sand? Man, I used to think you had to cement everything in place or else the stones would just sink into the dirt and turn into a tripping hazard. But I saw this one guy on YouTube showing a dry laid path with packed sand and it looked solid after a whole year of rain and frost. I guess the trick is really getting that base compacted tight enough so the sand doesn't wash out underneath. The 2x4 level check makes sense too because if your slope is off by even a little bit, water pools up and turns your nice walkway into a mud puddle. So yeah, I'm a believer now, definitely trying sand next time I redo our side path.

spencer_park2622d ago

Yeah that "mud puddle" point is brutal. I did a dry laid path last fall with just sand and it held up fine through winter because I actually compacted the base like a maniac. Sand is way easier to fix later too if a stone sinks.

victor77922d ago

@kelly.charlie you got the right idea but one thing - the base matters just as much as the sand. Even with packed sand, you need crushed stone underneath or the whole thing shifts when the ground freezes. The 2x4 level check is solid advice though, saves you from that puddle problem every time.