- 1). Mark out the perimeter of your walkway or patio by planting stakes with a rubber mallet to serve as guides.
- 2). Select what looks like a typical flagstone from your stones and measure its thickness. Add 3 inches to this measurement to determine how deep to dig out your work area. If you have 2-inch-thick stones for the most part, you'll need a 5-inch-deep work area.
- 3). Dig out the work area with a shovel. Move dirt around with an iron rake to create a reasonably level surface if you are building a patio. Compact the dirt surface with a dirt tamper.
- 4). Dump sand into the work area with a wheelbarrow, and spread it around with an iron rake until you have filled it with a 3-inch-deep layer of sand.
- 5). Place the main flagstones in the work area. Try to arrange things so the stones are usually no more than an inch apart and there are as few larger gaps that must be filled with smaller, custom-cut stones as possible. Also work to minimize or eliminate the number of larger gaps on the perimeter of the work area, since you want smaller stones in the middle of the patio or walkway.
- 6). Cut flagstones to fit the gaps in the patio or walkway. Sit down, place the stone on your lap and draw a line across the top indicating where you want to cut. Flip it over and draw a similar line on the bottom. Use a hammer and chisel to carve out a groove over those lines, and then split the rock in two by striking one of those grooves with a hard blow.
- 7). Fill the gaps in the work area with your custom-cut flagstones.
- 8). Dump more sand on top of the work area, and push this sand into the joints between the stones with a push broom. Soak the work area with water from a garden hose, compacting it. Repeat the process of dumping, pushing and soaking the sand until all of the joints between stones are filled with compacted, solid sand.
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