The Unturned Stone

The thyme walkway meanders through the garden-yard as it climbs towards the front of the house. As the walkway gains elevation, I am adding steps to the flagging. The steps turn on funky radii and need to be hewn from larger stones. I devised this technique for creating an individualized template for each step, borrowing heavily from the way marble and granite countertops are measured and fitted in the field before cutting.

I have only seen finished countertop templates in fabrication shops, but they generally seem to be made of very sturdy corrugated plastic, all straight lines and crisp angles. My requirements are less stringent. I used some scraps of foam core, typically used to mount artwork for framing. I thought a stapler would be a good way to anchor the corners, but I couldn’t get a staple through two pieces of foam core. Duct tape never disappoints.

I laid the four pieces out in a rough arrangement and then walked through it a few times and looked at it from various angles. It’s important to have the pieces level; only then can you see an accurate representation of the final shape. I cut the foam core about two inches wide and reinforced the weak spots with tape. It took a couple of tries to get the corners to stick well enough to move the template.

I trimmed off the excess lengths and labeled the top-front so I was sure to cut the stone in the right direction.

I laid the template on the stone, aligning the face of the step with the best looking face. I cut the stone in the back of the truck on a pallet. The stone is about four inches thick and tipped the scales at 1,100 pounds and I have gotten three step treads from the stone with very little scrap.

I’m a sucker for pictures of feathers and wedges.

I got kind of involved in setting the step and forgot to take any process pictures. This is the steps installed with the template in place. It worked quite well, even as rough as the template materials and methods were. I presume the 4934 written on the face of the stone denotes a pallet weight. I don’t know who thought writing a temporary measurement in permanent marker was a smart idea. I’ll have to remove it by force

The next day it rained and rained, washing off the endless dust.

We’re on a definite run of flagging work. Wears the back out after a while, but the continued focus lets me build on ideas and refine my workflow. This project is a walkway through a front yard that is completely covered with the herb thyme. A low-growing and hardy ground cover, thyme is a nice alternative to a lawn. As Jody noted, it smells like we’re working on a pizza. There was an existing stone path, but it was being undermined by moles. We dug an eight inch footer and filled it with 3/4 inch gravel to discourage the moles from digging under the path.

I’ve started putting a marble under (or behind) the first stone and last stone of a project. They’re hidden from view, but signify progress to me.