After getting a few bids on some landscaping, I am going to see if this is something I want to do on my own.

Specifically am wanting to do a small/medium flagstone patio that will need a small retaining wall behind it. I know site preparation is key with these things, so I am looking for resources on anything you guys have used and trust. I feel pretty confident I could figure it out more or less. The wall, I am a little more unsure of - it will only need to be about 18 inches high in the tallest spot, so nothing that needs to meet rigorous engineering standards.

Also, feel free to chime in on any random advice or opinions. I am leaning toward all natural (stone dust) as opposed to a polymeric sand. Mainly don't want to screw the project up at the end with the glue process and from what I have read, large flagstone pieces don't really need to be bonded together. Being in Colorado, having something that lasts the many freezing weeks is also key.

The following link is really the only resource you need to do this bigly and beautifully:

http://www.devineescapes.com/

I would recommend using the dust (decomposed granite) instead of poly sand. I have used both over the years and the dust is far superior in all ways. A huge benefit is that ants hate this stuff, but seem to do fine in the poly sand.

Just study the above link and all the Q&A he posts, plus tips and tricks. That site is awesome for this project. You have to read through all the Q&A to get the full knowledge transfer. It takes some time to read through it all.

Have fun

Thanks! That is one of the few sites I have taken a quick peak at after some google searches. I'll continue to dig into it more.

Unless you are in a hurry, you can definitely do this yourself. I just did a fairly ambitious project all by myself. Took me over 4 months working on it as much as I could, but saved $10K over paying someone to do it. Where you are I am guessing the digging will be much easier than here in N Dallas area. The digging was the worst part but I got it done the way I wanted. Included sunken flagstone walks, a massive dry stream and a large flagstone patio and some very large planting beds incorporated. I was mostly trying to solve a drainage problem, but make it look really nice while doing so.

Have fun and good luck.

Not in a hurry, but I know this will take some time.

Would you advise doing the retaining wall around the patio first? I'm thinking that comes after.

Also, what allows the stone dust to not be washed out if the joints are as big as an inch or two in some spots?

Here is my DIY flagstone patio thread (Warning, it is a long thread). You could probably use cinder blocks as your backing to your wall, then do a veneer similar to my "open grill" in the below thread.

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/1648965/1

I think the order of doing the wall and patio would just depend on the conditions. If you need the wall to "protect" your patio job site during the long project, then maybe do the wall first. Otherwise, I don't see it would matter much.

If you can find the "how to" pages on that site I linked, he has several blog posts and Q&A at the end which addresses why to use dust and how to install the dust. He answers lots of wash out questions. You kind of sweep and spray and sweep and spray until the gaps are filled. If you have giant gaps then you can place very small scrap pieces of flagstone in there before filling in the gaps. Don't be afraid to make cuts on the stones with diamond blade on grinder. It is fairly easy to get tight gaps with fewer cuts then you think it would take.

The dust just stays and does not wash out too bad at all. I had about 3" of rain in 30 minutes soon after I built mine and the patio section had almost no wash out. The stream bed had wash out at first, but now a year later it is like concrete and stays in place in heavy rain.

Olag00 has a good idea on the wall if you want to keep it simple or as a back up plan if the dry stacking doesn't work the way you want. I followed his thread back in the day! Great thread.

Jump in and have fun

Thanks guys for the feedback. I do remember Olag's thread from way back when.

Olag- did you just use decomposed granite for the base? Did you end up using the polymeric on top?

I used decomposed granite as the base and then filled in the space between the flagstones with it as well. After a few days though the decomposed granite was getting washed away with the rain and being left on the flagstone. Then when walking on the patio the little pieces would get stuck in shoes and be brought into the house. After that, I ended up sweeping all the loose granite from between the spaces. The stone was set in the base well enough, the stones didn't move and there was probably 1/2" of decomposed granite between the stones even after sweeping up the loose stuff.

I am debating doing this as well in my backyard, but the question I can't seem to find an answer for is, what do I do with all the dirt I dig out? Seems like a easy enough question, but getting it answered has been a pain. What did y'all do with all that dirt?

I lucked out being in a new subdivision that had lots not built on yet across road so that is where my dirt went.

When I put in a patio in my last house, that was the case as well. Worked like a charm. Alas, that is not the case this time around.

Im in process of doing this myself.

Look at box stores for rubber panels that dont require as much ground prep. Cant think of the name.

Look into nano pave to spray between pavers. This is wherr I'm at currently. Havent had time to finish so I cant attest to it working just yet. Using bagged DG for this.

BWnDallas said:

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Unless you are in a hurry, you can definitely do this yourself. I just did a fairly ambitious project all by myself. Took me over 4 months working on it as much as I could, but saved $10K over paying someone to do it. Where you are I am guessing the digging will be much easier than here in N Dallas area. The digging was the worst part but I got it done the way I wanted. Included sunken flagstone walks, a massive dry stream and a large flagstone patio and some very large planting beds incorporated. I was mostly trying to solve a drainage problem, but make it look really nice while doing so.

Have fun and good luck.

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Rule 1

I will try. Not the best pics and I have never posted pics before.

I was able to repurpose all of the cut dirt for fill areas.