Chosing stone for a patio floor

June 24, 4:50 PMBackyard Living ExaminerJane Gates

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Choosing stone for a patio floor (Photo by Jane Gates)

The stone you choose for the flooring can set the whole style and feel of your patio. Here are some tips on the different effects you can get and how to choose patio stone.

Flagstone comes in many colors and textures. The prices are variable, too. The flagstone used for patio flooring is quarried from all over the world and offers different effects. A patio with one of the red tones like Arizona Red flagstone can evoke a Southwest or brick-like Old World feel. There are softer versions of the Arizona flagstone colors that have more orange or tan in them. These sandstone flagstones tend to be one of the less expensive choices. A textured white stone like Travertine is likely to offer a clean, contemporary look and will cost appreciably more than the Arizona flagstones. The Three Rivers flagstone has a gray tone with colored veining and is neutral enough to work in almost any design. Certain stones like marble are too soft for outdoor patio paving use.

Cut stone can be rough cut, formally cut, or tumbled and comes in all the natural colors, textures and forms as flagstone. It can be stacked or cemented into matching walls to carry the theme from the patio floor into vertical structures. You can choose small or large pieces. Most cut stone is pretty much rectangular so it will give a more formal and organized look that the fitted free-form shapes of flagstone.

Stone is usually sold by the ton. You can go to your favorite building products yard and choose your stone piece by piece, or you can order large quantities by the palette. Even if you use a designer or contractor, I always suggest going to the supplier to see the stone directly. The impact of seeing your selected stone in large quantities is much more telling than trying to imagine it from a single little sample piece.

Stone shapes can be cast in cement as well. Much like bricks or flagstone, various pavers can be set in place to form your patio. The choice of colors, textures and shapes are enormous.

You can choose stone for your patio as one smooth texture or you can combine different stones and/or shapes to create various effects. There are interesting edgings you can purchase that will add a textural or color contrast to outline or create inner lines within your patio floor. Or you can design your own patterns. You can also mix and match stone materials to create designs or pictures like a mosaic for your patio. There are even special designs pre-cut that you can buy to install as finished pictures to decorate special areas inset into your patio.

You will also want to decide how wide a space you want between your pieces stonework. Stone can be laid closely fitted on cement to form a smooth patio surface or it can be laid on sand so water will drain between pavers. The latter has advantages of being better draining and can be removed or changed easier than stone cemented permanently into place. The downside is that you will need to keep the space between stones well weeded and the surface will be less smooth. If you build your patio on sand, the wider the space between stone, the more fill you will need. It will cost more in labor to fit stones closely, but if you don’t mind the cost, a good mason should be able to fit stones as close as 1/8th to ¼” apart. Larger gaps can become part of the design depending on how you choose to fill them. You can use colored or natural, raw or polished pebbles, decomposed granite, gravel, tumbled glass or many other decorative materials. Or you can plant groundcovers for a living garden effect.

Keep in mind your micro-climate and conditions when you choose stone for your patio. If your patio will be exposed to hot sun, remember that dark colors will absorb heat and can become painful to bare skin. Some stone can be slippery around pools and other water features. And with hard water, darker colors are likely to stain with white mineral build up, just like light colors can become marred with rust from iron fencing or other staining materials.

The best way to choose stone for a patio is to go to a building products yard and look over the different materials. It helps to look at photographs and check out samples to narrow down what you want, but the real effect of a massed stone impact is best seen where materials are spread out. See what friends and neighbors have built and talk with a good designer who understands hardscaping. Surf the internet for even more ideas.Choosing stone for a patio floor can be an artistic adventure and make your patio something really special.

 For more info: 

Nature teaches landscape design with rocks

Color effects for concrete surfaces 

Ideas for designing a patio cover 

Designing a barbecue area