How to Use Natural Stone Patio Kits to Build Awesome Backyard
Mar 28, 2023
The backyard patio is no more a luxury. It is an essential part of modern houses. It is an inseparable part of our life. We spend a lot of hours there to relax, kids to play, teens even to study, and the guests to enjoy parties or barbeque.
Patio construction has plenty of options to select a material, but natural stones are an unbeatable choice that can prove cost-effective and a beautiful choice in the long run. Natural stones for patios come with again in different types, styles, colors, shapes, sizes, and patterns.
If you hire an experienced and expert natural stonemason, you have to do nothing, just follow the instruction given by the mason or contractor and open your pocket for material as well as fees or charges. If you look at DIY options, you might have several problems on the road.
Issues in Natural Stone Patio Building When You Think of a DIY way
Problems in the way of natural stone patio construction are plenty of when homeowners think of DIY. For instance,
- It often confuses homeowners to make selections for natural stone materials.
- Patio owners don’t have even ideas of different layouts.
- They knew nothing regarding the patterns on the surfaces of natural stones.
- They have little or no idea about patio themes prevailing in the market, particularly in their neighborhood.
- The most daunting thing is DIY capabilities for installation and without the help of an expert hand or mind.
Solutions for Natural Stone Patio Building when you think of a DIY way
The ultimate solution is to buy the patio building kits. Now, immediate queries are:
- What is the natural stone patio building kit?
- Why do you need natural stone patio kits to build a backyard patio?
Let’s find the answers to the queries one-by-one.
What Is Natural Stone Patio Building Kit?
For standard types of backyard patios, natural stone suppliers often offer a ready to use natural stone material, construction materials including pavers, sand, and (sometimes) cement, and instruction guide (step-by-step) along with photos and seldom with videos.
The combination of all is called the kit in the industry and come with or without delivery charges, mostly based on order volume & price. A reputed kit supplier always has good return policies and warranty or guarantee on the material, particularly natural stones.
Why Do You Need Natural Stone Patio Kits To Build Backyard Patio?
Now, the question is why you should go for buying patio kits. I will give you the answer to it in the following ways:
- You are not ready to pay hefty charges of stonemasons, laborers, or contractors.
- You have the ability to do it yourself by gathering required material, have some ideas or experiences in construction, and capable of following somewhat technical instructions written comprehensively.
- You have family members, friends, or capable of hiring one or two laborers for a day or two to get helping hands in your adventure.
- You can accumulate tools and rent machines for patio stone installation in the correct ways.
- You have the physical capabilities to dig the land and lift the moderate to heavy stones during the installation process.
If you have such traits described here, you are fit to go ahead in natural stone patio construction.
What Are the Benefits of Natural Stone Patio Kits?
- Most natural stone patio kits have been designed from the ground up to meet the expectations of homeowners.
- Stones shipped in the kit are of high-quality material and cut into shapes and sizes as per the specification is given in the kit.
- Color combinations, pattern settings, and polishing/coating of surfaces are as per the standard prescription, and following layout, designs declared in the kit.
- The kit makes installation easy and quick without much knowledge of stonemason craftsmanship. You have to simply stack the stone on the bed prepared as per given instructions and glue the pieces according to the layout diagram illustrated in a simple way.
- The prices of stones and other materials are slicing a lot to make it affordable to everyone.
- Kits are expandable because they have enough scopes to go leeway and customize the layout, material, and design, as well as combine different kits into one when a large project is in question.
What Should Your Natural Stone Patio Kits Contain?
For online orders of natural stone patio kits, the stone suppliers have to present the options for
- Patio design layouts
- Natural stone materials
- Customization of a kit or combination of two or more kits
Let’s see these options in detail to make your natural stone patio kit buying efforts meaningful.
Layout Design Options for Patios:
The most common layouts of patios are falling into three major types:
- Classic square or rectangular patio layouts
- Circular (or octagonal) patio layouts
- Freeform patio layouts with completely customized design
Remember: The custom layouts often are as per the space available or allocated for patio construction. Some patios have combinations of both, classic and circular layouts, particularly in large projects.
Some other attachments with patios also are influencing the patio layouts including fireplace/pit, fire feature, swimming pool, water feature, and garden along with paths and driveway.
You will have layout drawings to make your selection online and obtain natural stone materials accordingly in the kit. Let’s see some drawing examples in Dutch, Basket Weave, and Random patterns:
Most of the kits come in 10′ x 10’, 10’6” x 10’6”’, or 12′ x 12′ layouts. The number of stones is varying according to the size of the patios and the size of the stone pieces used in the layout designs.
Natural Stone Material Options for Patios
Now, you have to select the types of natural stone for your patio building project. There are two types of rocks used in the construction industry for patios.
Siliceous – It contains chiefly silica or sand and mostly igneous rocks.
Siliceous stones are good for exterior applications because they are less porous and sturdy to withstand weathering and other wear & tear forces. Those are:
Sandstone Patio Kits
Granite Stone Patio Kits
Slate Stone Patio Kits
Flagstone Patio Kits
Quartzite Stone Patio Kits
Bluestone Patio Kits
Brownstone Patio Kits
Calcareous – It consists of mainly calcium carbonate or calcites components and sedimentary in nature.
Calcareous has a few varieties, which are using in exterior applications like patio making. Calcareous stones are soft, porous, and flexible to cut and to polish treatments. For exterior applications, the following stone types are the best material.
- Limestone
- Travertine
- Onyx
- Marbles (Very seldom)
Natural Stone Color, Shape, & Style Options for Patios
Let’s check these options one-by-one:
Colors of Stones for Patio
When you think of the backyard patio, the color of the attached or nearby wall makes sense in patio stone color selection. You whether go to complementary colors or contrasting colors depending on your likeness and imagination. In most cases, complementary color shades are welcome.
Bright colors often demand cleaning and washing treatments while darker shades are offering relaxations in due course. A combination of complementary and contrasting colors gives unique and dynamic patterns when you have a large project.
Shapes of Stones for Patio
Geometric shapes like square, rectangle, hexagon, circle, and ovals are blending easily with patterns in your home and look seamless while you transit from inner to outer spaces or vice versa. Sometimes, irregular flagstones seem more natural in the garden patio building.
Style of Stones for Patio
In most standard stone patio kits, colors and styles of stones remain single, but in customized or large patios where more than one kit have applied, the styles and patterns of patio stones come in a variety and depend on your choices.
Instructions for Patio Building
We have seen that natural stone patio kits always come with installation and maintenance instructions in a complete guide form. Let’s see at a glance what standard inclusions in the guide are.
Select a Location
Before making a selection for the patio kit, the online website of the stone kit supplier will ask you the purpose of patio construction, the suitability of stones, how close or far the patio from your walls of the home, and finally the availability of space for the patio building.
Besides these, the natural stone kit suppliers also eager to know the location of trees, plants, gardens, swimming pools, fire or water features, and a lot of things if you want to cover in your patio construction project. In due course, they will advise you to go for customization of kit or hire a professional instead of DIY like a project.
Prepare the Site
You have to excavate the earth base on your layout drawing and as per the instructions issued in the kit.
Create a Base
Fill up the gravel and sand to create a solid foundation for your patio and compress it using a rented compactor machine.
Apply Natural Stones
Start laying stones as per your design or layout. Before laying and fixing the stones, try to create a pilot design on extra land each time for each portion of the design, and avoid mistakes. Take care of even spaces for grout and strictly follow patterns and design layout.
Where Will You Go To Ask For Natural Stone Patio Kits?
As per my experiences and reviews of other users, World of Stones USA is an excellent online portal to get a reliable and cost-effective solution for your stone patio kits and natural stone needs. You will have ample choice of natural stones for exterior applications here.
