i am hiring a contractor to do the flagstone around my pool. and since i have so much square footage 800 to do he has suggested using 3/4 inch thick flagstone for the area the only kind of traffic this area will see is people walking on it..is this thickness ok??
any comments welcome
troy
flag stone thickness
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84-1093879891
I can't say what the craic is in your country, but in Britain and Ireland, anything less than 30mm (inch and a bit) is considered to be a tile, not a flagstone.
I suppose what you have would be ok if laid on a full mortar bed, but, as I've no experience with Texan stone, I really can't say. 18mm is awfully thin and I'd want to know that it was a full mortar bed, with no hollows or voids that could cause problems by holding water or creating weaknesses. I'd also want proper sealed jointing, where the mortar was beefed up with a waterproofer, and the whole lot laid over a solid base of concrete or similar.
Have you checked with other US-based contractors?
I suppose what you have would be ok if laid on a full mortar bed, but, as I've no experience with Texan stone, I really can't say. 18mm is awfully thin and I'd want to know that it was a full mortar bed, with no hollows or voids that could cause problems by holding water or creating weaknesses. I'd also want proper sealed jointing, where the mortar was beefed up with a waterproofer, and the whole lot laid over a solid base of concrete or similar.
Have you checked with other US-based contractors?
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116-1093880942
well i went to see him and his crew do a job they laid a base of stablizes sand (sand mixed with cement i think it was 5 to 1 dry) then a thick layer of motor for the stones to be laid on while it was still wet the stone is laid on and leveled..after the motar is dryed they use a jointing motar to fillin the spaces between stones. it looks real nice and he does a professional looking job. but i was wondering how long this would last since they were so thin 20 mm. as far as the type it would be arizona flagstone.( a type of sandstone) i have contaced other contractors but they want to lay a concrete slab 4 inchs thick with rebar then use a motar base to level the stones which also doubles the cost price goes from 4,500 usd to 12,000 usd quite a jump in price..
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84-1093879891
But how much would it cost to repair if this lesser construction goes awry?
If a shedload of other contractors are recommending the use of a concrete base, and I've already suggested that, even in Britain and Ireland we'd use a concrete base for such a project, then you have to question why this character thinks a simple mortar bed will be sufficient.
However, it's your decision, and I really can't tell you which is best, as I'm not in your country, I have no experience with this type of flagstone, and no experience of US construction methods, which are often completely at odds with how things are done in Europe.
If a shedload of other contractors are recommending the use of a concrete base, and I've already suggested that, even in Britain and Ireland we'd use a concrete base for such a project, then you have to question why this character thinks a simple mortar bed will be sufficient.
However, it's your decision, and I really can't tell you which is best, as I'm not in your country, I have no experience with this type of flagstone, and no experience of US construction methods, which are often completely at odds with how things are done in Europe.
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116-1093880942
so even though your web site shows individual laying of stones on a motar base you still sugest using a concrete slab to lay the stones on..i do understand are construction methods differ from the british vastly but the british car contrution differs from the rest of the world that i now understand the saying (british drink warm beer because lucas builds their refrigators) sorry just a crack from a triumph tr8 owner...so lets increase my original question how difficult would it be for a noivce to lay a concrete slab down myself..i am very mechanicaly inclined since that is what i do for a living but i have never really worked around a house its diffrent field with what work i have done.. also should i use rebar are some other support system in the concrete---soil is a clay type wet we don't really get very cold temps. here but we do get very hot weather and extremes from very dry to very wet high temps up to 106 F. and lows usually no lower then 30 F but lots of water pretty much year around.
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84-1093879891
My web site shows flags laid on a mortar base for a patio, in Britain or Ireland. You are talking about a pool surround in a foreign country, where you do not enjoy a maritime climate, as we do.
I can only emphasise that we do things differently in Britain and Ireland because we do not have a continental climate, as you do. That's why I go to such pains to label the site and this forum as dealing with paving isues in Britain and Ireland. Not in the States, or Germany, Australia or Turkmenistan - just in those soggy islands lying off the western coast of continental Europe.
It's not about being insular British/Irish, it's due to the fact that we have very mild weather conditions and so do not get much in the way of frost heave or differential expansion due to extremes of tempereature.
But also, we in Europe as a whole have common construction practices that are not used in your country. It's not just a matter of us using metric, while your country persist with a quaint olde-worlde system, but we have different products, different materials, different requirements.
I cannot tell you how to lay concrete in your country. The way your concretes are defined is totally different to how we do it in Europe, so whatever I could suggest would be meaningless, anyway! You need to consult an American contractor, whho ought to be familiar with American materials and American practices.
If I thought I could help, I would, but I can't. We may speak a common language, but that's where the similarities end.
I can only emphasise that we do things differently in Britain and Ireland because we do not have a continental climate, as you do. That's why I go to such pains to label the site and this forum as dealing with paving isues in Britain and Ireland. Not in the States, or Germany, Australia or Turkmenistan - just in those soggy islands lying off the western coast of continental Europe.
It's not about being insular British/Irish, it's due to the fact that we have very mild weather conditions and so do not get much in the way of frost heave or differential expansion due to extremes of tempereature.
But also, we in Europe as a whole have common construction practices that are not used in your country. It's not just a matter of us using metric, while your country persist with a quaint olde-worlde system, but we have different products, different materials, different requirements.
I cannot tell you how to lay concrete in your country. The way your concretes are defined is totally different to how we do it in Europe, so whatever I could suggest would be meaningless, anyway! You need to consult an American contractor, whho ought to be familiar with American materials and American practices.
If I thought I could help, I would, but I can't. We may speak a common language, but that's where the similarities end.
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mouldmaker
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I have some experience of Arizona flag. Even laid crazy-pave style, as it seems to be in the main (in the Phoenix area, at least) unit sizes are fairly large, making it liable to breakage if not on a good concrete base. My personal feeling would be that 3/4" would be too thin, but to be sure I'd suggest speaking to your local stone merchant or consulting other contractors.