I’ve just spent the last few months piecing together my flagstone patio. It’s been incredibly tedious yet enjoyable. But now I’m worried I may have screwed myself by trying to be a perfectionist. I wanted really tight joints everywhere, but maybe went a little too far. A lot of the pieces are actually touching in a few spots and have no freedom of movement. Is this going to cause me issues once I “set” everything? I’ll be using poly sand.
Most flagstone patios I see have fairly large “mortar” gaps. I’m kinda worried my gaps aren’t sufficient for the poly sand to fill and set everything solid.
Would love some professional advice!
by SirRich3
26 Comments
Whatever product you use in between them will specify what size gap is needed/acceptable for it to work as intended.
make sure you wet the poly sand good after sweeping it in
My mind is boggled, how did you pack it so tightly without buying tons of extra material so you could cherry pick pieces?!
Hey it looks great once it’s set you can pat yourself on the back , I did my patio in flagstone yrs ago it’s double the size as yours it kicked my butt but well worth it . Grouted mine so Kudos to ya
Closer is better. You did great.
In my opinion, you get the cleanest look from uniform spacing, not tight or not. Big gaps can still look fantastic if the spacing is uniform. I personally think the best look is tight uniform spacing and has been modified to hide cuts (you can cut and it looks cut, or you can fix that).
That being said, you’ll be fine. Just do the poly sand correctly. Should look better than 95% of dyi.
Nope looks good af . Don’t waste your time with poly sand . Some Stones Will settle and the poly sand will make it look like shit .
I’m no expert but to me it looks fucking awesome!
Wow, that’s gorgeous!!! 7 tons of stone!!!! Your back is gonna need some work, but you could unroll your yoga mat on your new patio!
We live in the desert southwest ant temperatures aren’t too cool during summer months , over 110 daily didn’t want any type of shifting , plus I seal it every 2 yrs
Wow! Looks great! I bet that was a blast
This is a masterpiece. Don’t forget to post after pics
Not an expert but I love it!
I have a similar patio, but my joints are much wider – 1 – 15 inches. The polymetric sand you use will have the max gap listed. I’m not sure too tight could be an issue – I assume not.
Looks great btw.
It’s a really good layout for a non-pro. It is not easy to make flagstones come together nice and tight, very impressive!
If you want the professional look with thin and even joints, get an angle grinder and put on a diamond blade, mask up and zip that blade in between all the flagstones that are touching. That will make it look next-level tight.
But honestly, it’s good to go – you could just poly sand it how it is. Read the directions carefully on that stuff tho, it’s easy to mess up.
Absolutely stunning!
Build these every day of my life, I’d hire you. Great work for a DIY
Edit: DYI > DIY
I think it’s perfectly perfect.
If I were your neighbor I would come, drink a beer and admire your handiwork with you. This looks amazing.
Looks great
I don’t know about it being right or not, but I think it looks fantastic! I’ve never seen a patio done with these stones and I really like it!
Hope you enjoy it!
This post gave my back and shoulders a nightmare. It looks really good. It looks similar to my project I finished earlier this year.
The gaps aren’t an issue depending upon what you are using to film them. Done products have minimum required gaps. My suggestion though is to use 1/4″ minus or decomposed granite – whatever is available in your area. There’s no binder, so you don’t have to worry about cracking after it hardens. And it makes replacement easier… God forbid that ever be required.
I went that route and am very happy. I do have to sweep some loose pebbles off, but it’s not an issue to me.
Here’s my project post you can check out.
https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/s/bn3kFSVwtA
Tighter is better. Poly sand is a very small particulate and will get in there just fine. You may need to add sand a few times as it sinks in under the stones and into the gravel. But it legit looks like a professional job.
Looks great.
Looks slick, the tighter the better imo.
It’s a masterpiece. Well done