“Paver, patios and walkways are laid on an open grade base.” — Joseph Mathews, River Run Stone and Landscape

The base is the job

Anyone can set pavers. What decides whether a patio still looks right in five years is what went underneath it. Both pavers and flagstone can be built on an open-graded base — angular stone that locks together and lets water move through instead of holding it. Water that can drain is water that can’t freeze, lift and pull a surface apart.

What a typical build looks like

4 to 6 inches of sub-base, depending on the site and what the patio has to carry.
About an inch of 3/8-inch gravel on top of that, for leveling.
An open-graded base system where the job calls for it — pavers or flagstone, either one.
Joints filled with polymeric sand or EasyJoint, depending on whether it’s pavers or flagstone going down.

Flagstone, two ways

Dry-laid on a prepared base is the usual approach, and it lets the patio move a little with the ground instead of fighting it. When a mortared look is what you want, we set flagstone over a concrete base with mortared joints. Both are real options — it comes down to the site and the finish you’re after.

What we lay

Paver patios — Keystone, Pavestone, Belgard and others, in standard and large-format lines, including seat walls and edge courses.
Flagstone patios — Crab Orchard, Bluestone, Mountain Mist and other natural stone, dry-laid or mortared over concrete, including round patios built around a fire pit.
Walkways from the drive to the door, and steppers where a full walk would be too much.
Custom steps built from boulders, natural flagstone slabs, wood or whatever suits the space, worked into the run where the grade changes.
Fire pits built into the patio rather than dropped on top of it.