so you want to put the bluestone on top of the concrete? lets hope he slopes that correctly.

all natural stone requires some maintenance. you could apply a sealer every few years and it should be fine.

as for the depth, you could give him a sample tile so he knows how high to pour. do you want a step off from the door? an inch or so? you don't want it level.

Bluestone is beautiful but it does vary greatly. I would make sure you don’t get too many yellow/gold tones because those tones really drive other color choices and not necessarily in a good way.

I would opt for more space rather than trying to cut it close if you don't have the tile yet. You can always step down a few more inches, but too high can't work at all.

Get samples ASAP of the actual stone you will use. Guessing based on generalities can lead to fatal mistakes. And as mentioned, hopefully, the slab will be sloped to drain.

@Revolutionary Gardens

I also like this limestone.

http://www.pbm1923.com/products-by-material/natural-stone/cut-dimensional-stone/limestone-collection-1-detail

Do I need to have the same stone look for front and back porch to have consistency or it's perfectly fine to have different stones. I like the look of limestone but also like bluestone so want to do both. Does limestone require higher maintenance?

I generally feel that unless you're regularly looking at both your front and back simultaneously (from a blimp?) then matching isn't a requirement. But depending on the limestone, we've seen it used as accents on bluestone patios so it would be easy enough to tie the two together.

If you were talking about a patio shaded by a bunch of mature oak trees, I'd say limestone could be a bit more work to keep looking nice. Under your porch roof, the only thing I'd worry about is a glass of wine or cup of coffee.

I agree with Rev, Not seeing both materials at the same time opens up the possibilities of using different materials in different locations. And, if necessary, that there is also the possibility of combining materials in one or both locations.

We also agree. Many of our projects feature different looks in the front and back yards.

If you prefer to have looks that complement each other, you could always use the same products, simply mixing them up to create different patterns, or use different products but keep the same color scheme. The possibilities are endless with pavers and patio slabs. You can create whatever you want! Some people prefer a more traditional front yard, but an eclectic backyard oasis. The two spaces serve different needs, so it's natural if they don't match completely.

@Techo-Bloc @Revolutionary Gardens Thank you. Do you have photos of any projects where you have used limestone and full range bluestone and tie them together. There's tan in full range bluestone so I'm hoping there's a way to tie them together with the front porch walkway. I'm thinking maybe full range blue stone walkway like below and tie it to a limestone front porch (like sample house below). Not sure if this will work.

Bottom line, you have to examine any stone from current shipments, because these high level variation stones (V4) vary all over the place, and you could get it all wrong. Then order 20% more stone, so when the workers are laying the stone, be there and help place the colors to your best advantage. Yea, they love this! You will love the outcome with that level of detail attention, otherwise, crap shoot!

What "shipments" of stone? The installer goes to the stoneyard where there are open pallets for each size and hand picks from each pallet based on the # of each required for the pattern. It's not like it comes in boxes like interior tiles. If there are certain tones the client wants to avoid, we just don't pick those pieces. The fact of the matter is that high quality stone is easier to work with than the cheap stuff so anything that's iffy doesn't make it on the truck. We've had jobs where the guys have gone to two or three vendors to get what they need for one patio.

If you need to babysit your stone masons to where you're telling them where to place each stone, stop hiring guys off craigslist and hire pros. A good stonemason is an artist, not a technician.