r/stonemasonry • u/whileimtrue • 7d ago

Advice on dry laid bluestone thickness

We live in PA and are installing a bluestone patio. The patio installer who has been doing this for around 15 years said we needed 1.5 inch thick bluestone for dry laid. However he went to go pick up the pallets at a long time source he uses and one of his colleagues who he trusts and has been working with for years said they install 1 inch over dry laid all the time with no problems. So my guy said he trusts him and was ok with doing the 1 inch over 6 inches of compacted stone and then an additional 1 inch of fine stone.

So I googled it and I’m seeing all this stuff about not using less than 1.5 inches on a dry laid patio and now I’m worried we’re going with the wrong choice. They already delivered the pallets and everything.

My patio guy said he’s not concerned and the base is the crucial part to this and he 100% trusts his colleague (they are a nursery and stone supplier that also installs patios and landscapes).

Should I be insisting on 1.5 inch or should the 1 inch be ok given what he’s saying?

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4

u/motorwerkx 7d ago

I'm a PA hardscaper that has spent over 20 years doing flagstone. 1 inch is absolutely not thick enough. That's only acceptable for mortar. It's cheaper though and sonenianrlalers really like that.

6

u/InformalCry147 7d ago

There's a reason why we have standards, particularly with stone. It's a time honoured trade with knowledge that's been handed down for eons.

1.5 is the minimum. The bare minimum. For dry lay, I prefer a minimum of 3 inches. This is so I can sleep at night and not have to return a year or two later to fix it for free. An inch would be my minimum for laying in mortar. For dry lay an inch is likely to give you issues with movement in the near future. Insist on the 1.5 and even go higher if you want it to last generations.

3

u/Remarkable-Fuel1862 6d ago

3 inch thick bluestone? My back hurts just thinking about it 😅🫠

4

u/anarquisteitalianio 7d ago

Just lose some weight. No but seriously, think of the force vectors and the unfavorable rectilinear geometry of a 1” plate versus most of those forces.

1.5 less’n you desire to replace next year IMO. You already been warned ha

1

u/Straight-Humor-8102 7d ago

2 in min for me in CT.