Saturday, May 3, 2008

Laying Flagstone or How to Drop Flat Rocks

Previously on.....Extremely Slow Yard Makeover.
Phase One: Digging the dirt, aka clay aka red mushing stuff when it is wet or red cumbly stuff when it is dry.
Phase Two: Covering the area with a base of gravel, and leveling it as much as possible which is more not as possible as it is possible since the area has a slight slope. You think that is confusing, try leveling on a slope.
Phase Three: Spreading a layer of sand, or creating a tempting bathroom for the local feline residents


Now we are into Phase Four: The laying of the flagstone.


There are many way to express oneself, the written word or painting on a canvas. I've always looked for way to express myself through art and for me writing is bout right, however there are other means that I have explored. I have found out that placing flagstone as a means of artistic expression is not the way to go. It is not as complex as other venues, just carry and drop.


This is the best help anywhere, My Dad, who I think is part mule due to how hard he works, not to mention his near-mule like stubbornness.
Picture by Mom

I am glad my Mom was there, so she could hang out with us while we worked, she read and took a few pictures.
Picture by Susan


This is Buddy, he just watched.

He did not take any pictures, but was a bit upset due to what we did to his outdoor "sandbox"


Here are the results of some hard work and patience. The hard work was done by Dad and myself, and the patience part was Susan, who was the "artist" of this project.


She is the one that is solving the "jigsaw" puzzle, cause only she has the picture.

So basically here is how it was done.

Chose a flagstone:
Which consisted of picking up the closest one, look at it, then look where it can fit, which is almost anywhere, however, there are some decisons to be made, see Susan above.

Then carry the flagstone to that location and drop. This by far is the easiest aspect of the project, but one must be alert as to where one's toes are during the dropping. Then all you have to do is...............

Dust off and repeat....

Over and over and over again......

This is mid stage of Phase Four. There will be more flagstone to lay, and then shift them around until they "fit". Then onto Phase Five, getting this thing finished.

3 comments:

Glenn A.Gurley said...

It's looking good -POP-

Betsy said...

This is looking great, Mike!!! I'm enjoying the updates and can't wait to see it completely finished. We'd like to do a flagstone path and patio in our natural area out back - maybe we'll have to pull you and Pawpaw into the project! :)
Take care and hope to see you soon!
Betsy

sunfish2009 said...

Thanks for the directions! What do you set the stones in after stones all layed out "artistically"?
Will check in later.
Melanie