The Brew Cabin

What a great resource this site is! I've been landscaping for a couple of years now, but I wish I'd come across all this quality information when I was starting out!

Anyway, just a quick question about hand cut flagstones. I'm laying 150 sq metres of hand-cut indian sandstone next week, and a further 150 the week after. Having never laid this particular type of material before I'm wondering whether it is better to lay it with the wider part of the angled cut towards the top or the underside? i.e. to have an 'overhang' (upside down V) at each joint, or have a 'V' shape at each joint?

The flags will be individually laid with mortar joints. The stone itself is good quality, although there are a few 'thinner' flags amongst them.

Thankyou in advance for your help Tony.

Cheers.

Jim

(Edited by Jim Cuthbertson at 2:36 pm on Mar. 14, 2003)

The flags should be laid so that the joint width is narrowest at the top face. With most stone flags, the face is usually apparent because the edges are all square, whereas the underside has less accurate, untidy edges.

Further, by having an inverted V-shape gap between the flags, the mortar is effectively trapped and less likely to come loose. The joint, at the surface, should be 9-12mm in width, and finished with the blade of the trowel or with a pointing bar.

Here's a quick sketch....