Lifting and relaying uneven flagstones is a spring chore.

You can do it stone by stone instead of removing them all. Starting at one side, where you know what the level should be, lift a stone or two and flatten the substrate, then replace that stone. Work your way across the patio.

You might not have to completely remove the stone - just raise it onto one edge. It's a 2-person job; they both pry the stone up, then one holds the stone upright and the other flattens the substrate. You might need to add a bit of sand if some eroded.

What if I want to use dirt to plant a low ground cover? Should dirt be used for that last step or just go ahead with the DC.

We are in the phase of getting the stones to stop rocking after a l o n g spring/summer/fall of installing a 15'x20' fieldstone patio. We layed them over 3" of sand. Does anyone have tips to level the rocking stones - particularly those with very irregular surfaces?

We are exhausted at this point. Some stones don't move at all and many move slightly under foot other a lot. Is it possible for amateurs to level them all?

We haven't poured the crushed stone (CS) between the stones, yet. Does pouring the CS in the cracks settle the movement? If we give up until the Spring, can we pour the CS between the stones now? Does the CS behave like sand under the stones? I'm afraid if we pour the CS and we lift the stones later, we'll never get them stable.

Feeling very discouraged and wishing we had the funds to hire some pros to helps us with these last steps. I've searched the internet again and again and no one goes into details on how to stop the stones from rocking. What is the trick?

" Does pouring the CS in the cracks settle the movement?"

Not at all. Don't waste the stone or your time.

It sounds like you didn't pack the sand well enough and it has settled unevenly. I'd wait until spring, then do as described in my first reply ... one stone at a time, packing the sand under them, adding more if needed.

Then finish by brushing the crushed stone between the stones.

Thanks for that feedback. We already poured the CS in the cracks. It didn't help as you say. We just didn't want any more leaves getting into the cracks, so we filled them. I'm not clear on how packed the sand is stops the stones from rocking. It seems the sand isn't giving enough to allow the very irregular stone bottoms to level. We have to keep lifting and adding more sand and that is part I was hoping to learn how to do. Your idea above sounds great for a walkway but very hard for a patio as large as we have. Thanks again.

• • * On June

4, 2014 at 6:02AM, Kastlebravo describes in detail a system which
logic is fun to contemplate. Now I have 2 questions:
* 1. I
am laying a patio -- not a pathway, and the stones are relatively small, averaging a square-foot and 1/2; should I leave that much
space between them -- 1 1/2 "?
* 2.
When removing the buried stone to set it over the sand which was covering it,
the filling space all around it and between the other stones drops under it -- now the surface level is higher, isn't it? Should I plan that
outcome in the depth of excavation of the patio? And what's a good average
deeper?

I have a fieldstone patio laid by a pro 10 years ago. Dogs dug up grass, stones and fieldstone. No one wants to reuse stones or repai. All want to demolish and start over. Do I have to throw it all away and start over?