Sourcing Your Patio Stone
Start with your local suppliers, where you can see and touch the stone. You will have backup if there is any difficulty with your order — broken or damaged stones, etc. If you purchase locally you are more likely to get helpful advice when you need it.
Local Suppliers
- Check several suppliers, compare prices, ask lots of questions.
- Ask to see a catalog of projects that were built with the stone you’re considering.
- Ask for names of people who have used the stone you’re considering and talk to them about how they like it.
- If you know a stone mason ask him or her where to fine the best stone at a reasonable price (if it’s a friend, take them along when you go shopping!).
The Internet is another source. The main advantage would be the wide range of suppliers to choose from, the possibility of lower pricing, and a greater variety of stone to choose from.
Online Suppliers
- Costs for shipping stone any distance will be high. Make sure you get ALL the costs; like insurance, brokerage fees, customs charges, and taxes if it’s coming over the border.
- Do your homework carefully to find a reputable online supplier; get independent references.
- You must have assurance that problems with shipments, like broken or damaged stone, will be dealt with promptly at no extra cost to you.
- With an online supplier, both they and you will want protection for the transaction. If they have some method of guaranteeing your satisfaction, then you’re okay. With a service like Escrow.com the funds are held until both parties are satisfied — it protects both of you. The service mentioned above is a reputable one.
- If they are not willing to provide you with some level of protection on your order, find another source.
If you are offered “seconds”, be careful to check the quality, the stone may have been rejected for good reason. However, it’s also possible to get “seconds” which are top-grade stone that has been broken and cannot be sold as part of a given size run. For a “crazy paving” type of patio that could be great, because you can cut the stone into random shapes.
Finding Used Stone
If you can find good used flagstone, hooray! Assess the quality carefully. This site gives you some tips for assessing stone; scroll down to the section on quality and suitability (it’s a UK site, different terms may be used). If you’re not sure, get a qualified stone mason to look at it for you, preferably someone with experience in laying patio stone.
Demolition sites for government or other public sector buildings can be a source for materials. They are often available for the cost of picking them up or a nominal amount. You might have to be flexible about the color and sizing of the stone. You could pick up enough of two or three different colors or types of stone to make a very nice patterned patio. Do use a caliper to check that the stone is more or less the same thickness. It is difficult to lay the stone and get it level if there is too great a variation in thickness.
You could advertise for used flagstone, with online local classifieds (Kijiji in Canada) or a Buy, Sell and Trade type of publication. If you can dig up the stone yourself, put that in your ad. Lots of people have poorly installed flagstone on their property; if you’re willing to take it away you might get it for free. Again, check the quality of the stone! You don’t want to do all that work and find that it’s not worth laying.
Ask your local stone masons where to find used flagstone. If you have neighbors or friends with flagstone on their property, ask where they got it.
The stone is the biggest part of your investment in a patio; it will be there for several decades, and it can really add to the value of your property. Make sure you end up with stone that you like to look at and live with.