Natural flagstone patios, walkways, steps and pool surrounds, built on a base that stays flat through an Ontario winter. We lay flagstone dry on compacted aggregate or set in mortar over concrete, for homeowners across Southern Ontario.
Flagstone is quarried stone split into flat slabs, and no two pieces are the same shape. That is the appeal, and it is also why a flagstone job is mostly fitting: each stone is cut and turned until the joints run even and the surface sits flat. Done well, a flagstone patio looks as if it has always been there.
Both are good. They suit different places, and the right one depends on what the stone sits on and what it has to carry.
Stone set on a compacted aggregate base with a screeded bedding layer, joints filled with polymeric sand, stone dust or planting. It moves slightly with the ground, drains through the joints, and single stones can be lifted and reset years later. The right choice for most patios and garden paths.
Stone bedded in mortar over a reinforced concrete slab, with pointed joints. A rigid, very flat surface that suits porches, landings, steps and high traffic areas. It needs a sound slab, because cracks in the concrete travel up through the stone.
Flagstone varies in colour, thickness and how it wears. Thicker stone suits dry laid work, and thinner, more regular stone suits mortar set. We bring samples to the walkthrough so you can see them against your house.
Flagstone rarely fails because of the stone. It fails because of what is under it. Water sits in a base that was too shallow or never properly compacted, freezes, lifts the stone, and the patio thaws back down uneven. Every winter adds a little more.
So the base gets the time. We excavate to firm ground, place aggregate in compacted lifts rather than one thick layer, and grade the surface so water runs away from the house instead of toward the foundation. Where a patio meets a wall or a door we set the height to leave room for the step and for drainage. It is the part nobody photographs, and the reason a patio is still flat years later.
Around pools we think about the finish as well. Some stone gets slick when wet, so we steer pool surrounds toward textured stone and keep the smoothest pieces for areas that stay dry.
Every flagstone quote is a fixed written price after we have seen the site. The main things that move it:
A flagstone patio usually takes three to six working days once we start.
We measure, check the grade and look at where water goes now, then talk through stone and layout.
A drawn layout for larger patios, stone samples and a fixed written price with a start window.
Excavation, a compacted base, then every stone cut and fitted by hand until the joints run even.
Joints filled or pointed, edges set, the site cleaned, and a walk over the finished patio with you.
I highly recommend Macaworks Masonry for any stone or patio projects. They recently completed a flagstone patio for me, and the execution is absolutely stunning. The craftsmanship and precision they put into every single stone are remarkable. On top of that, they were able to repair a deteriorating windowsill on my home by installing a durable limestone ledge. They are incredibly skilled, detailed tradesmen who take true pride in their work!
Moises did a fantastic job with our back patio amd our front porch and landing. It was granite flagstone on concrete. The attention to detail and level of quality Moises demonstrated in each aspect is refreshing and a notable difference from most trades. He truly cares about getting the job done right, and not just getting it done. I would recommend him in a heartbeat. We look forward to having him and his team continue with the next stages of our hard scaping.
We lay flagstone right across Southern Ontario from our shop in Barrie. These three areas take the most of it.
A lot of our Barrie flagstone goes into backyard patios and front walkways on newer subdivision lots, where the yard often slopes the wrong way and fixing the grade is part of the job. Barrie averages over two metres of snow a year, so we plan where the shovelled snow and the meltwater will go.
Masonry in BarrieIn York Region flagstone is often a front walkway or porch surface on an established street, or a pool surround on a larger lot. Aurora sits on the Oak Ridges Moraine, where sandy, gravelly ground drains well but needs careful compaction before stone goes down.
Masonry in Newmarket and AuroraCollingwood patios face snow belt winters off Georgian Bay, so base depth and drainage matter even more. We build flagstone for full time homes and for places that sit empty part of the winter, where a patio has to get through a season with nobody watching it.
Masonry in CollingwoodWe also lay flagstone in
Most patios and garden paths are best dry laid on a compacted gravel base, because the surface drains and can move slightly with the ground without cracking. Porches, landings and steps are better set in mortar over sound concrete, where you want a rigid, very flat surface. We recommend one or the other on the walkthrough based on what is under it.
Some stone is when it is wet, so the choice matters. For pool surrounds we steer toward flagstone with a natural cleft or textured face, and keep smoother stone for areas that stay dry.
Interlock is manufactured concrete pavers in regular shapes, quick to lay and easy to replace. Flagstone is natural stone in irregular pieces, slower to fit and more expensive, with a look no paver copies. We build both, and some patios use interlock for the main area with flagstone for a border, the steps or the walkway.
It depends on the soil and on what the patio carries, so we set it on site rather than using one number for every job. A walkway on firm, well drained ground needs less than a patio on clay or in a spot where water collects. Compacting the base in thin lifts and grading it so water runs off matters as much as the depth.
Not when the base is right. Heaving comes from water held in a shallow or poorly compacted base freezing under the stone. A well compacted base that drains, with the patio graded away from the house, stays flat through an Ontario winter.
Three to six working days for most patios, once we start. Large patios, steps and mortar set work over a new slab take longer, and the written quote includes the expected timing.
Call or send a few details. We come out, measure, and put a fixed price and a start window in writing. Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.