It can be dry laid, but you need a base under it or some will sink. Mine is laid in a layer of bluestone dust, which I refresh around the stones every couple of years. Originally, the walk was bordered on both sides by landscape timbers by the people who had my house before me. I swapped those out when they rotted for a line of granite bricks.

i think vertical shifting might happen with either square or irregular ... more worried about horizontal shift.
wasn't planning on a border is that necessary?

Most certainly you can do a dry lay with random or natural cut New England Bluestone .

You must take into consideration using larger and thicker pieces for stability and of course provide an excellent sub base for setting the stone upon.

We have installed dry lay and wet set stone patios and pathways for over 25 years with excellent success.
Prior to having my own design+ build company I observed my grandfather and uncles installing masonry projects .
Their dried laid masonry work can be seen in Copley Square of Boston which was done close to 100 years ago.

Good design is timeless.. and quality installation work will stand the test of time.

so irregular bluestone can be dry laid ... now i guess i need to find someone who can do this with good results ...
what should I ask the mason about his process to have a good feeling he knows what he is doing with regard to dry-laid irregular bluestone.

Sub base installation specifications
Thickness of the stone
How wide will his joints be
What will be installed inbetween the joints
Any arrangements for drainage
Type of retainment border
Will he leave cut edges with a chisel face or a saw cut, ie how will he dress his stone.
Color of the stone

thanks... now that we have some questions ... what are the answers to the questions?

I would also like to know the answers to these questions.

Help! I just got 2 quotes for wet laid irregular bluestone ... One was almost the double the other. The more expensive quote was from someone very crafty ... however I can't figure how there could be such a difference. I don't mind paying a little extra for craftsmanship. Howvever I am thinking are there different ways to prepare the underlying surface. The more expensive guy said he would lay cement with metal and then lay the bluestone. Is this standard or oare there other ways (less costly) to wet lay?

Get three more quotes and drive by their references. I am finding the same thing. One quote for just a little walkway and wall in the front was MORE than other quotes for the entire yard (including 20x20 patio).

The metal that your mason is speaking about is called rebar and he also might be installing welded wire mesh.

Concrete is not that strong on its own. It requires tensile strength. The rebar metal adds this strength.
It is considered a standard application from masonry professionals when pouring a wet set.

If you were quoted a price without the metal and you live in an area that the ground freezes or you have earth movement either from earthquakes, liquidfaction, heavy clay soils ect... ( which includes just about everyone unless you live on a granite boulder ) you should always put metal reinforcement in your concrete footings and slabs.

If you are going to hire someone to do this job for you , you should look at their portfolios of recent work and or at the very least look at several of their jobs so that you can see the quality of their work.

Personally, I would not be going into a hardscape project like this without any written specifications to hand over to the contractor.
If you don't have any spec's you are leaving yourself wide open to the individual contractors interpretation.

and that can be disasterous.

thanks for the advice mich ....
we are getting close to a decision here ... we
are now considering either wet laid irregular bluestone
or wet laid brick pavers (although my fear here is the clay
brick possibly cracking). We like the look of brick pavers dry laid, but are fearful of the the maintenance (weeds) and possible movement, since this is a front walkway which will be used quite often. On the other hand we have heard that blustone can be slippery when wet? Any thoughts?

Hi Treebeard,
We are getting close to starting on a walkway. We have decided to go with square bluestone wet laid with a slight curve (like a half moon shape). we are talking about 260-285 square feet (about 46x4 and then about 8 1/2-10x8 1/2-10 front entrance) . One stone mason said it would take him about 7 days to rip old concrete walkway, prepare and lay the new walkway. The other said 2 days total. I asked the 2nd about the prep and he said a "rough" concrete base then the bluestone laid in concrete. I asked about drainage and pitch and both said don't worry we'll take care of it... is there anything special to be aware of here? I asked about cracking and any use of expansion joints. The 2nd guy mentioned he could cut with the saw tiny "expansion joints" every 8 feet. Will this help? I have seen the 2nd guy's bluestone walkway work and I like it. I just don't know how the 1st guy could spend 7-8 days and the other 2 days(BTW the 7-8 days guy is about 40% more costly). The 1st guy has a very good meticulous reputation in the area and we have seen his stone work .. although still like the look of the 2nd guy's walkway. We don't want to have problems down the road with any "corners" being cut? What is the recommended prep and installation process? and what is the recommended way to deal with "expansion" and/or prevent cracking? and drainage? and size if joints between the stones? Thanks.