Natural flagstone steps can be found all over Ottawa and many are in poor condition, either because the flagstone installation was poorly done or over the years salt had been used during the winter.

The Ottawa flagstone steps in the project pictures below is another good example and reason why you shouldn’t use salt on cement or natural stone.

The original stone work was done very well in my opinion. Repairing only sections of the damaged flagstone steps would of one option, but after taking a closer look far too much damage had occurred.

Old Flagstone Steps

Here are some pictures of the original flagstone steps, as you’ll see the steps have become dangerous and in need or repair.

New Flagstone Steps

The following pictures are of the new flagstone steps, some of the original stone taken from the step risers was reused when rebuilding the step risers. The last step meeting the driveway was lowered and graded differently making it flush with the driveway. Previously the original step was around 3″ higher than the driveway on one end.

Need your steps repaired or maybe cover existing concrete with natural flagstone? Visit my Request Estimate page.

Feel free to leave a comment or question below and remember DO NOT use salt on any flagstone steps.

A flagstone patio and walkway will not only looks beautiful but can often add value to your home. The project below was completed in 3 different stages. I’m going to show you each stage and also post a video walk through so you can see exactly how it looks.

Stage 1 – Flagstone Walkway

Originally the front walkway had some poorly installed flagstone and along the side a narrow brick walkway.

We decided to replace both walkways with new flagstone and also widening the side walkway.

(if I can locate the before pictures I’ll add them at a later date)

Stage 2 – Flagstone Patio & 2 Small Dry Stacked Walls

In the next set of pictures you will see a flagstone patio and two small dry stacked walls on either side of the patio, due to the change in elevation I installed a natural stone step when joining up with the stage 1 flagstone walkway. All flagstone is dry laid meaning it’s not set in cement.

Before picture:

Stage 3 – Flagstone Walkway – Rebuild Wall – Natural Stone Steps

In 2011 I completed the final stage, adding another flagstone walkway leading from the patio to the rear garage, again due to the change in elevation 2 natural stone step were installed. One of the dry stacked walls following the side of the flagstone patio was rebuilt with dimensional wall stone and a natural stone copping installed on top to allow people a place to sit or place flower pots etc.

When building the wall, the top 4 rows of stone were glued to help keep the wall stable and the copping was cement on.
A short wall was installed to separate a flower bed area  and some stepping stone installed.

You will notice that I replaced some pieces of flagstone where the walkway joins the patio to eliminate the original outer joint that would be seen, in other words I wanted to blend the patio and walkway together.

Some new sod was also installed as we wanted to rise the height of the walkway.

Before pictures

 After pictures

 Flagstone Patio & Walkway Video

If you like the type of work that I do and would like your very own flagstone patio or flagstone walkway, please use the request estimate form.

In this post I’m going to show you a flagstone walkway and steps that I was asked to rebuild.

Over the years salt had been used during the winter by a local snow removal company. Salt eats away an stone, cement and concrete and should never be used on a flagstone or any natural stone that’s installed in cement.

Flagstone Walkway  Before Pictures

As you can see one step appears to be sinking and pulling away from the landing area, many pieces of flagstone have become loose and many have split into layers. Under many pieces of flagstone the salt has eaten the cement and turned into sand.

Flagstone Installation Pictures

The first step was to remove all the old flagstone, natural stone risers and cement down to the original concrete base. This was done with a small demolition hammer.  Next I cut out and removed a section of concrete base and rounding it slightly so that the flagstone walkway would appear to turn towards the front entrance.

If you take another look at the before pictures you will see that it didn’t’ have a curve.

Newly Installed Flagstone Walkway Pictures

Below are pictures of the project some taken when the flagstone was wet and some dry. The walkway has also been sealed to help protect both the flagstone and cement.

Would love to hear your feedback on this natural flagstone walkway, so feel free to leave a comment or question below.

I often get asked where do I buy my stone from in Ottawa and refer most people to Canlok.com

I buy around 80% of my stone from Canlok and have been a happy customer for several years now, over the years I’ve taken pictures of the different types of stone available to show potential customers. Now that video has become popular I decided to create a quick video to show you the pictures of stone products.

Some of Canlok’s natural stone products: Garden Stone – Canyon Rock – Bark Stone – Flagstone – Slate – Natural Wall Stone – Waterfall Stone – Natural Square Cut Lime Stone – Chickstone Boulders – Decorative Stone

If you own an old property in Ottawa then you may have an old stone retaining wall too. I was asked to re-build the stone retaining wall and dry laid stone steps seen in the first few pictures below.

You can clearly see that the wall is in need of repair, a heavy rainfall could easily bring down sections of the wall that have pushed out over time.

The original plan was to use all the existing stone to rebuild the wall and steps, the old pieces of flagstone used on the steps was in poor condition so I purchased some new flagstone instead. The stone used on the wall is all the original stone but it’s been trimmed/chipped so it looks a little different.

I pulled down the old wall and steps,  installed a new base and made sure the new wall had good drainage. As I built the retaining wall 3/4″ clear crushed stone was used to fill in behind the wall, it’s also wrapped with a geotextile filter fabric stopping the soil from having contact with the 3/4″ clear crushed stone, any pushing from the soil is now just moving pieces of 3/4″ inch clear crushed stone.

This video contains pictures of Ottawa stone mason work complete by Smith's Stone Masonry. Some of the projects I completed while working with another stone mason "Ranco Natural Stone" around 7 years ago. If you need any stone masonry work done, please request an estimate.

Over the years I’ve built and repaired countless stone walls in Ottawa, I’ve created a short video showing you some of the stone walls built or repaired by Smith’s Stone Masonry.  Ottawa has old stone retaining walls all over the place, many are in need of repair due to poor drainage problem behind the wall.

Adding the video for Stone Walls again below as the one above doesn’t play on smart phones.

This video shows a project that was complete in 2 stages, the lower flagstone walkway, stone steps and retaining wall was stage 1, then the following year we installed the patio area.

All over Ottawa you will see flagstone walkways wet laid and dry laid. I've personally installed countless flagstone walkways in Ottawa and create a short video for you showing you some of the Ottawa flagstone walkways.

I've installed many flagstone patios in the Ottawa area, most of them have been dry laid patios and some are wet laid patios. The nice thing about using a natural product like flagstone for a patio is, no one piece of flagstone or patio is the same.