Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

We love solar powered stuff here at DIY Life. Hacking things together ourselves in the interest of reducing our environmental footprint really gets us going. This DIY solar lantern is just the thing to keep the spirit of Earth Day even after it's come and gone.

Noel from unplugged living gives us a full detailed tutorial on making the solar lantern. Covering each step thoroughly, and providing loads of helpful pictures, diagrams and part lists, this is one project that will be easily recreated on your own.

This project is split into a three part tutorial. In the first part, Noel explains the basic theory of operation, then goes on to explain how to calculate the value of the resistor. In the second section, you'll learn about the charging module and solar cell. The assembly instructions are clear and detailed. Finally, in the third part, you'll see close-up pictures of each piece and how they should look together.

Staying green isn't always easy, but it sure is important. Noel brings us inspiration by combining our desire to go green with the love for great DIY projects. Gear up for your next camping trip with a solar powered lantern.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

• How do the beans, peas and rice work together to make the rain sounds?
• How does it differ from real rain sounds?
• How is it the same?
• How does real rain make sounds?
• Why does quiet rain sound different than heavy rain?
• What makes the rain stick sound different at different speeds of motion?
• Why do you think ancient people thought they could conjure rain with the rain stick?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

At last, the fifth of the five articles I promised! I have previously written about walls of natural stone, engineered wall blocks, cultured stone, and pressure-treated timbers.

Mortared stone is technically not the most difficult, but it is the most labor intensive; essentially you're taking big rocks and making them into little ones. Done correctly, mortared stone is, in my mind, the nicest looking work you will ever see. I think that you'll agree when you see some of the gallery photos.

That said, take a gander at the gallery and we'll move on to the fun stuff.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

For the sake of this article, I will limit the scope of the work to a free-standing wall about 2' tall and 10' long. Bigger walls than that, or those cutting into a slope, really require something more than DIY experience, and you might want to get a price from a contractor.

First off, safety. On the possibility that you'll be building a wall somewhere in the vicinity of the power or gas lines, make sure you get your utilities marked. My experience is that the power and natural gas guys generally put their lines down fairly deep, but not so with the telephone, cable, and water folks. In any case, if you cut any of the utility lines, you will have, at the minimum, angry family members or neighbors on your hands. If you cut off service to your entire area, you will then be in BTT (big time trouble). Don't take a chance; it only takes a phone call. For this project, you will need hand and eye protection and maybe some knee pads, unless you have very young knees.

The layup of the stone is pretty much confined to two principal dimensions. You can install the stone horizontally (stacked) or with the long axis vertically (veneer). Look again at the gallery to get some sense of the appearance; veneer has the advantage (for the same square footage) of requiring requires less material and less labor.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The materials:

• The rock, of course -- You should have some notion of the kind you want, but I recommend that you not actually buy it until you have either a very good idea of the scope of your project or the base of the wall already constructed. It's much easier to measure the base construction and then purchase the stone, so you don't have to sheepishly return to the rock yard and get six or seven additional square feet of material in order to finish the work -- not that I have ever had to do anything like that. Check with your stone supplier, but for stack stone material you can expect to pay about $250 a ton with coverage of approximately 35 square feet per ton. For veneer stone, you will pay approximately the same amount and get about double the square foot coverage. These prices reflect the stone available in the Atlanta, Georgia area and are not necessarily representative of your neck of the woods. The big determinants of the cost will be the freight from the quarry nearest you. Measure the project and add 10-12% extra; remember you will be chipping the rock away, so the waste is fairly significant. In any case, you will probably have to buy the rock by the pallet, so be prepared. Have it delivered; don't mess around hauling the stuff in 14 trips to your home. Don't forget to include the cap rock for the top of the wall.

• The cinder block sub-structure -- block comes in several dimensions, but a very popular size is 8" x 8" x 16". You'll need about 9 blocks for each 10 square feet of wall; get enough block for your work plus 10%, of course. Blocks generally cost about $2 each.

• Masonry cement -- Your vendor will have the necessary masonry supplies. You will be looking for Type N, generally used for above-grade projects; it will run $8-9 a bag. I like to mix the mortar, fine sand, and portland cement in a 1:2:1/4 ratio, by volume. (In some locations you can find a "mason's mix" of all the required ingredients.) Check with your vendor, but you can generally expect coverage of 30-40 block and 25-35 square feet of stone. You'll use this for laying up the block (unless you pour the cavities -- see below) and sticking the rock to the wall.

• Concrete for the footer-- the footer is the solid concrete base upon which you will erect the cinder block wall. Get enough bagged "sakrete" (pre-mixed cement, sand, and gravel) to build a foundation a foot wider and longer than your project and below the frost line of your area. You'll pay $3-7 a bag, depending on the size and type; coverage is noted on the bag.

• Reinforcing bar ("rebar") -- in combination with the poured cavities, to strengthen the wall. I recommend that you get enough rebar to put in every third block, with the bottom 12" of the bar in the footer and the length to be as tall as the wall. In addition to the rebar, especially for walls under 2' in height, you can fill all the cavities with concrete and you have, essentially, a poured concrete wall. The advantage here is that you don't have to mortar the blocks together (a big plus for a DIY project) so you save substantial labor time.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The process:

• Dig the foundation below your frost line, and about a foot wider and longer than the finished work. Pour your footer with the "sakrete" at least 12" deep, or more, depending on the frost line. It doesn't have to be perfectly level -- you can let gravity take care of that. If you are going to add rebar to the block wall, now is the time to insert the steel about a foot into the concrete, after eyeballing about where the cavities of the block will end up. Let the footer cure for about 24 hours, unless you used the rapid-hardening type of "sakrete", in which case you're good to go in about four hours.

• Lay the first row of blocks over the pieces of rebar, with the ends of the blocks as close as possible, and check that the tops are level. If not, you can shim the bottom of the blocks with flat stone chips. Lay up the succeeding rows of block, making sure that you don't line up all the block joints on top of one another. (This will, of course, ultimately cause the wall to fail and subject you to muffled laughter from family and friends alike.) As you lay up the block, you may mortar the joints together, or pour the cavities with the rebar, or pour all the cavities. As opposed to other walls, you don't have to batter or set the walls back; they go straight up. Again, let the wall cure from four to 24 hours, depending on your choice of concrete.

• Now the fun begins. With the rock hammer, chip a bunch of rock to shape. For stacked stone, the usual configuration is akin (your word of the day -- look it up) to a small loaf of bread. If you want to veneer the rock, knock the stone into pieces about the size of a piece of paper (legal or otherwise, your choice). You'll break a lot of rock to get the shapes you want, but don't be discouraged. This work is labor-intensive, but you'll be surprised how quickly you get the knack of it; press ahead.

• With an inventory of prepared rock at hand, apply the mortar mixture to the wall and the stone and then stick it on the wall, with a slight twisting motion, to squish the two layers of mortar together; hold it for a few seconds. For stacked rock, set the succeeding row on top of the one below it, making sure you alternate the joints, for the sake of a good look. For veneer, you can use stone chips (not to worry, you'll have an ample supply) to use as spacers for later grouting (there's a pic in the gallery).

• Alternate colors, sizes, and shapes as you move up the wall. HINT: When you get about halfway up the wall, start thinking about the rock that will be in the top half and cut them so they they aren't all little tiny pieces just below the caprock level, leading some of the bystanders to ask " how come all the rock at the top is about the size of a little tiny piece?" Plan ahead.

• OK, getting to the finish line. Hammer your caprocks into shape and mortar them to the top of the wall; if you filled all the cavities, this will be a snap, as you have a very flat surface to work on. It's only a little more effort if you filled only the cavities with the rebar. Make sure the caps are stable and don't rock and roll -- at some point someone will sit or walk on the wall and you don't want them (the peeps or the caps) to fall off and break.

• Grouting. Using the grout bag or a small trowel or your finger push the grout into the joints (after removing the spacer chips, as necessary). Let it dry a few minutes then smooth it with a damp rag. Avoid getting grout on the face of the rock; it's hard to remove when dry, as you might imagine.

Clean up the mess and wait for the adulation (yet another word of the day) to begin. You will be the envy of the neighborhood, oh yeah!

(Thanks to the good folks at Stone Forest Materials in Kennesaw, GA for the use of their displays for several of my photos.)

%Gallery-21616%

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

As the days grow longer and the weather starts to warm, kids across the nation go outside to play, and to get rid of their cabin fever from the long winter we all had.

Chances are that they will be dragging you outside with them! Instead of just pulling up a lawn chair and watching them run in circles, why not have a little fun with science and get them thinking as well as playing?

I am going to cover two different activities best done in the great outdoors that are sure to peak the kids' interest as well as show them a good time. These are easy to do, and it is easy to find the materials needed to get the jobs done! Now buckle up and let's get this science bus on the road!

The first trick up my lab coat sleeve uses a magnifying glass to teach kids about the power of the sun. The materials are easy to put together.

• Magnifying glass. The larger the better.
• Various leaves. Make sure you gather as many stages of decomposing leaves as possible. It will work best if you use everything from fresh green leaves all the way to completely dried out and crispy leaves.
• Paper. Get at least white and one darker color. Again the more the merrier.

First you need a sunny day to make this work properly. The sunnier the better. Set out the leaves and papers you have put together in a row on the ground. Don't put it on a table as no one wants to explain a scorch mark on a good patio table.

Next, ask the kids if they can figure out a way to cause the materials to burn without using fire or matches. After they scratch their heads for a minute it is time to pop out your secret weapon. Make sure you pull out the magnifying glass with a flourish. Showmanship is everything!

Focus the light through the lens into a pinpoint on a dried out leaf. In a second or so it will smoke. Let the kids ooh and aah, now challenge them to do the same. Make sure you give them either a green leaf or white paper! Help them focus the glass, and then let them sit for 30 seconds or so. When the white paper or green leaf doesn't smoke, take the lens back and again make the dead leaf or darker paper smoke.

Depending on how fast they catch on, this can go on for quite a while before they realize that the materials are affecting whether or not the glass can cause the scorches. When they do figure it out, you can explain how the moisture in the green leaf, and the reflective properties of the white paper are what affect the glasses ability to cause the scorches.

After the day's fun, make sure you put the magnifying glass out of reach so that the youngsters don't get the itch to try it out without you and cause any incidents that would necessitate a visit by the fire department or a claim to be filed with your homeowners insurance.

Learning about magnetics

The other outdoor science experiment you can do easily may require a trip to the beach, or the local playground so you can have access to sand. The materials are as follows.

• Sand. The more the better. The older the better. Beach side or lakeside is ideal, but the local playground will work as well as long there is a sand pit there.
• Magnet. Bigger is better. A straight magnet will work best, but the cartoony "U" shaped ones can be used as well.
• Paper. White is best for showing off the final tricks. 2 sheets are best but one will work fine.
• String. A piece long enough so you can drag the magnet behind you through the sand.
• Compass. Any will do.

After the trip to your local sand pit or beach bust out the magnet. Let the kids play with it for a few minutes sticking it to metal and finding out that it will not stick to all materials. Next ask them if they think the sand will stick to it. After collecting their answer, pour a little sand over the magnet to demonstrate that it won't.

Next tie the string to the magnet and tell the kids to drag it through the sand. After a minute or so, check the magnet for iron filings stuck to it. Ask the kids why there is material stuck to the magnet. Explain that iron occurs naturally or that (if you are at a man-made beach or play ground) big metal machines crush rocks into sand for people to use, and they are seeing the little pieces of the crushers that wear off as the rock gets processed into sand.

Scrape the filings off onto the white paper. Repeat the collection process a few more times to make sure you get a good amount of filings to work with. Place the magnet onto a non magnetic surface. Lower the paper down onto the magnet shaking slightly as you do so. This should cause the filings to move into the shape of the magnet's magnetic field.

An alternate way to do it is to use two pieces of paper. Collect the filings onto one piece. Place the second over the magnet and gently dust the filings onto the second sheet. Again this should cause the filings to form into the shape of the magnetic field.

After the field is marked out, ask the kids if they can tell you why the filings formed those shapes. Explain that what they are doing is marking the invisible magnetic field that is always present around this and any magnet. You can even extrapolate (don't use this word with kids unless you want them to either laugh or run away in fear) and explain how the earth also has a magnetic field and how it makes a compass work.

If you don't have a compass to break out at this point, go ahead and tie the string around the magnet in the middle and demonstrate that when you turn around, the magnet always stays oriented to the same direction. This shows the directions of the north and south poles.

After all this learning go ahead and let them use the magnet under the paper to move the filings on top of the paper around. Again explain that it is the magnet's invisible energy field that is causing the filings to dance around the paper for their amusement. You can also let them lower the magnet slowly towards the paper until the filings "leap" up to the magnet. Again this demonstrates the magnet's energy field.

Now that you have entertained and educated the kids you can hit the pool guilt free and enjoy the summer until the next time we meet!

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

I live north of Atlanta, Georgia, an area currently under homeowner outdoor watering restrictions. Not much is allowed because of a lingering drought. In addition to trying to do my part to conserve water, I want to be able to water my plants, without waiting for Mother Nature to send the rain. I liked Dan Chilton's article on rain barrels, but I wanted to do something a bit different. I built my barrel in about two hours and it's now the repository for all my recycled water and rainfall, such as it is.

Peruse the gallery, follow the construction steps, and you can be the proud owner of your very own rain barrel and, might I say, the envy of your neighbors.

%Gallery-20908%

I had very specific requirements for my barrel; it must:

• Be food grade -- no prior chemical or petroleum contents.
• Be plastic -- steel barrels are heavy and prone to rusting (duh), difficult to cut or drill, and generally are used for transporting the aforementioned chemical or petroleum products.
• Have a removable top -- to facilitate access to the inside in order to remove the pinestraw and leaves coming from my backyard trees.
• Be reasonably attractive in appearance so as not to be a problem for the neighbors; since it will not be sited at ground level, it will be some difficult to disguise it with plantings.
• Not cost a bazillion dollars.

You can buy rain barrels for $40-60 at various venues and complete kits for $100-300, but I wanted to customize the setup to my specs, so I started looking, visiting restaurants, an auto repair shop, even the home stores -- no luck. After a couple weeks, I happened across a man who had a bunch of various sized barrels and cisterns lined up along his driveway -- OK! I paid $20 for the only barrel that met all my requirements -- what a deal, literally!

So, lets get started.

The materials:

• A six inch drainage atrium; I turned it upside down to have the big opening facing up -- $6.
• A " quarter turn" hose bib, to facilitate easily opening the faucet -- $7.
• A downspout extender -- $8.
• Two cans of spray paint -- $4.
• Teflon tape; had this in my shop.
• Four self-tapping sheet metal screws, also in my shop.

The tools:

• A drill with 9/16 and 1" spade bits.
• A jigsaw.
• A hacksaw.
• A measuring tape.

Safety:

You might want some eye protection for the cutting and drilling parts of this project, and a dust mask for the spray painting.

The process steps:

1. Thoroughly clean the interior of the barrel. I used recycled water, dish soap, and vinegar.
   
2. I turned the atrium grate upside down, marked the outline of the collar on the barrel top, punched a hole with my one inch spade bit and then cut it with the jigsaw. I put the atrium over the location of one of the bungholes and left the other one intact as a view port. The grate serves not only as an support entrance for the downspout extender but also as a crude filter. I have loads of trees in my back yard and I didn't want all the leaves and pinestraw to easily make their way into the barrel. Some folks use a colander, but I wanted bigger holes; others use window screening in order to minimize mosquito colonies, but the openings in that were way too tiny for me. It seemed to me that as soon as a small amount of gutter gunk hit the screen it would occlude (look it up, it'll be your word of the day) the surface of the screen and the water would not enter the barrel . You can solve the mosquito issue with dunks, a small amount of vegetable oil on the water's surface, or gold fish!
   
3. I secured the atrium with two brass sheet metal screws to keep critters and kids from fooling around with it or having it dislodge in a heavy rain.
   
4. I marked the site for the hose bib about three inches from the bottom, allowing me to easily attach my hose, and keeping the valve inlet above the level of any accumulated gunk in the bottom.
   
5. With my one inch spade bit, I punched a hole for the hose bib. Because the bib has an increasing thread diameter, from inlet to outlet, I didn't need a thread tap to pre-cut threads; the bib cut its own when screwed into the barrel. Very cool!
   
6. I wrapped the bib threads with Teflon tape, taking care to put it on in the correct direction (there is a wrong way; I'll let you figure it out) so that the tape stayed in place when I screwed the bib in the barrel. Don't feel bad -- unless you do this stuff for a living, you generally don't think much about how tape should correctly go on a threaded shaft.
   
7. I screwed the bib into the wall of the barrel until the collar of the bib was snug against the outside. That's a mistake easily made, screwing the bib hard against the outside of the barrel and stripping the threads you were carefully cutting (remember, this is a plastic barrel). If you strip the threads, you will now have a 55 gallon trash can with a drain hole and you'll have to begin again, cutting a bigger hole, and fitting it with an adapter for the bib. Gently but firmly is the watchword.
   
8. Next, I secured the top on the barrel with self-tapping screws to keep critters and kids from taking a swim and possibly not making it to the other side.
   
9. I drilled 9/16" holes in the top in order to catch any rain, or spillage when I add my recycled water to the barrel. I purposely did not install an overflow on the barrel. My barrel is not near the foundation of my home and there is no erosion danger. The holes in the top, and the atrium, serve the purpose of an overflow and there is less junk hanging off the unit.
   
10. Now the fun begins: most folks place their barrels on the ground, with the really adventuresome types sticking the unit up on some cinder blocks. About the only thing you can do with that setup is to run some drip irrigation. I know something about water and head pressure -- more height, more pressure and an increased ability to water my plants.
    
    There's a reason that water tanks are way up in the air, and it's not so that some high school kid can inform the community of undying love for his girlfriend. My barrel is on my back deck, about four feet in the air, and right above a support point so that the weight of the water (about 7.5 pounds/gallon) won't do any structural damage. I'd really like to hang the barrel right under my second story gutters but I'm pretty sure my neighbors would take umbrage (look it up, for another word of the day.) I get about two gallons per minute from my unit, not much different from the two and a half gallons from my low-flow kitchen faucet, although at much lower pressure, about four or five psi (pounds per square inch) rather than 45 psi. My principle desire is to water my plants and I can do that admirably, thank you.
    
11. With my hacksaw, I cut my downspout about 3 1/2' above the top of the barrel and just slightly below the level of the top.
    
12. I permanently attached the top of the downspout extender to the bottom of the gutter and I put the bottom of the extender into the atrium grate. Voila, bring on the rain!
    
13. If I don't want water in the barrel, I simply move the extender from the atrium, on the the top of the barrel, to the bottom part of the downspout and the water runs through the existing downspout drain system and out into the drainage field in my back yard.
    
14. My barrel is located under the edge of my steel-roofed back porch. It is approximately 162 square feet in area. Theoretically, one half inch of rain will yield about 51 gallons of water. You can do the math here. Anecdotally, I have confirmed that calculation. Additionally, I put about 40-50 gallons of recycled water a week into the barrel, so it's not very likely I will run short even if we don't get a drop of rain the rest of the summer. And, LUCKY ME, because the barrel is on my deck, the roof of which is directly under my bathroom window, I can dump my shower water out the window, where it goes onto the roof, though the gutter system, and into the barrel. How cool is that !

Eventually I will "hard pipe" the barrel to another faucet closer to my plants, thus eliminating the hose strung under the deck. But that awaits some testing (the engineer in me, sorry) and observation of the rainfall in the coming months.

So, there it is. Your turn; get with it and build a barrel with your kids or friends, save some water (and money), and pray for rain -- except on the weekends, of course.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

• Sharpen the blade.
• Change the oil; go with a synthetic and you'll only have to do it once a year.
• Clean or replace the air filter.
• Clean or replace the spark plug.
• Check for frayed or broken cables.
  

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

• 1 quart or larger clear glass jar
• 1 8 - 10 inch pie plate
• 1 2 inch deep pan, larger than the pie pan, to hold water
• Soil
• Pencil
• String
• Water
• Ants

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

• 60 drops catnip essential oil (this is a 5% dilution)
• 20 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil
• 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 2 oz. fractionated coconut oil

• 15 drops tea tree essential oil
• 15 drops lavender essential oil
• 10 drops cedarwood essential oil
• 4 oz. distilled water

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

• Got plastic patio furniture? Give those chairs and tables a coat of car wax. This will make them easy to clean and minimize fading from the sun.
• Got a deck? Make sure all nails or screws are well-seated to eliminate accidents. This is a good time to re-finish the wood, before the weather gets too hot.
• Got a pool? This is a great time to put in a slide and load it up with floaty things.
  

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

It's Spring and, while wandering about the outside of your home, you are reminded of your very ugly driveway. Perhaps the frost heave got to it, or it's been slowly worsening every year; in any case there's a dictum (look it up, it'll be your word of the day) that covers pretty much all concrete -- there are two types of concrete, that which has cracked, and that which will. Fortunately for you, my friend, I have solutions.

Peruse the gallery to get an idea where I'm heading, and let's proceed.

%Gallery-19917%

I want to provide you with the information necessary to make an informed decision whether or not to replace that cracked concrete with another gray slab or jump to something much more decorative. I'll note the approximate costs to install, a sense of DIY friendliness, and where the substitutes are most appropriately sited around your home. Additionally, in a future feature (say that three times fast), we'll go over the particulars of installing the various options.

Concrete: recommended for walks, driveways, patios, etc.

• There are five types of concrete, but we concern ourselves with only Types I and III; Type I is used for your garden-variety, 4" thick, no rebar sidewalks and driveways and has a compressive strength of about 3000 psi (pounds per square inch). Type III is the same basic concrete, but is much more finely ground and hardens more quickly. Concretes with special additives (e.g. fiberglass "needles') achieve very high compressive strengths but you need this only if you have one of these in your garage.
• Concrete can be stamped, stained, colored, sealed, topped with an epoxy finish, or ground and polished.
• Stamping is a mechanical process wherein rubber mats are laid on the freshly finished concrete and gently tamped to impress the design in the top surface. A really good deal about stamping is that many of the following processes may be combined with it. The cost runs about $8-15 a square foot, including the new concrete; it does not include any demolition or removal of the old slab. This kind of job is really not DIY-friendly.
• Staining is a "top dressing" that takes place after the concrete has dried. I wouldn't recommend this as a DIY project as the process is rather involved and is best considered for concrete that is less than a few months old. A contractor will likely charge $2-5 a square foot for basic stain work.
• Coloring, at the site (color can also be mixed into the concrete at the batch plant for about $3-6 per square foot), is also a top dressing process that takes place during the final finishing of the work. Dry powder coloring is shaken onto the surface, troweled into the work and runs about $4-6 per square foot of slab. Another job best left to a professional.
• Sealing can take place at any time and is definitely a DIY-friendly project, although it too has very definite rules for when and how the sealer is used; surface temperature and ambient humidity are both important factors in the application process. Additionally, the texture and surface roughness of the concrete will determine the application rates, so be cognizant of that. Hint: the material is not cheap, about $20 a gallon, so get the 5 gallon container if your slab is large enough; your project will cost you about $.50-1 a square foot.
• An epoxy finish is, again, a surface topping best applied by an experienced professional, given that it involves detailed preparation, a choice of materials dependent on the location (indoors or outdoors), and the target surface. Epoxy coatings run $3-8 a square foot.
• Polishing involves grinding the top surface to remove irregularities and then using progressively finer abrasives to finish the process, leaving a very smooth surface. It is definitely not a DIY job and can cost you $3-10 per square foot.

Concrete pavers: recommended for walks, driveways, patios, etc.

First, full disclosure -- I'm a big fan of pavers, but I'll try not to be prejudiced in my enthusiasm. That said, I LOVE PAVERS!

• They are very Diy-friendly.
• They are less expensive than stamped concrete.
• They lend themselves readily to repair or modification for future landscape work (irrigation lines, landscape lighting wiring, underground piping, fence posts, deck supports, etc.).
• Pavers are available in a wide variety of shapes, textures, and colors; they have excellent strength (similar to concrete) so they are great for both walkways and driveways (albeit more expensive for driveways, owing to more extensive base preparation).
• They can be sealed, if you like.
• They have a high friction coefficient so they are amendable to good footing in mossy/shady or wet areas.
• I recommend pavers for walkways or patios upon which you place furniture, for their uniformity of surface.
• Contractor-installed pavers will run you $13-18 per square foot, not including demolition of existing surfaces. HINT: you can do the job for less than half that cost.

Stone: recommended for walks, patios, and driveway accents. Because most flagstone has a relatively low compressive strength (about half that of concrete or pavers), I wouldn't recommend it for an entire driveway. There are three basic types of stone flatwork --

• Stone on soil (see the gallery); the simplest kind of installation and the least stable -- put some rock on the ground and, perhaps, put some mulch in between the pieces. This is very DIY-friendly and will cost you about $2-3 per square foot, although I recommend it only for seldom used walkways, given the inherent instability.
• Stone on gravel sand is a more common installation, some more stable and recommended for walkways and patios without a bunch of furniture, because the feet of the furniture tend to sink into the sand interstices (yet another word of the day and one of my very favorites!) Very DIY-friendly and will cost you $6-8 a square foot.
• Stone on concrete (see the gallery) is the most stable, given that the stone is mortared to the new or existing walkway or patio. Depending on the quality of installation (a very flat and uniform surface), this kind of installation may well be suitable for patio furniture. Since flagstone, in general, has a relatively low coefficient of friction, it may not be the best choice for a shady/mossy or wet area. Stone on concrete is generally not DIY-friendly; it requires labor-intensive work, on your knees, on top of new or existing concrete in relatively good condition. It can be applied on previously cracked, but now stable, concrete, so that the mortared flagstone will not crack in the future. Mortared rock goes for about $13-16 per square foot, not including a new concrete sub-structure.

There you have it; if you are in the market for a new pathway, driveway, or patio, I hope that this primer was helpful. Put the information into your decision tree and go for it. (Did I mention that I really like pavers?)

Thanks to the good folks at Stone Forest Materials, Kennesaw GA, for use of their patios for some of my photos.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments