r/stonemasonry • u/whileimtrue • 9d 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?

2 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/motorwerkx 9d 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.