Tips On How To Install Stepping Stones With Success
Posted By Connie on January 31, 2011
Stepping stones are a great way of customizing and adorning your garden, but they have functional purposes too: they keep your feet, and ultimately your carpets and rugs clean. Having a path to walk on in your garden prevents people from walking in mud or grass, which will ultimately keep your carpets and home clean. In addition they help to keep your yard healthy: by placing these stones where your lawn has the most traffic, you ensure it from turning into uncovered dirt. Position them where you walk from the drive way to the door, where the dogs like to run up and down the yard and where your children tend to play the most. This will prevent you from struggling to grow grass in a high traffic zone and could help you save time and money. Do you have a center point in your backyard, like a statue or water fountain, that you always have to tell people about before they notice it? Well, by installing stepping stones, you lead the way; people have a tendency to follow these stones, and what better way of displaying your new feature by having them discover it by themselves.
Installing paving tones in your backyard is ideal as a Do-it-yourself project. It’s very easy to do, so no more nagging the hubby. Regardless of whether you want to install the stones for decorating purposes or for keeping people away from your lawn, doing it correctly will save you lots of time, effort and money, because these stones can last you a very long time.
Before you begin, you need to know what you want to accomplish: what layout of stone do you want; what colour and texture; is there a theme you want to follow. Once you have selected the colour, style, texture and design of the stones, you can begin with the fun part, shopping! You can go to you closest home improvement centre and choose from natural stones made from limestone, quartzite, slate or flagstone. Or you can buy pre-made, plain or patterned design. If you can’t locate exactly what you are searching for, you can buy the required materials and moulds and make your own design based on what you want.
Planning and preparation: this is the key to installing your stepping stones successfully. You have to look at the size of the stone, they mustn’t be too big, nor should they be too small. You need to think about how far they should be spread out to accommodate your stride: there’s nothing more frustrating than having to tip-toe from stone to stone. And you need to think about how they are set so they won’t sink in or break as time passes.
Before beginning installing your stones, you have to lay out your working area. Where will the stones be set, how far apart and what pattern do they have to follow. Mark these sites so that you won’t get confused throughout the project. After marking the area, you can begin laying the stones down. You have to take away the grass and dirt where the stone will be laid to even out the surface. Put the stone down exactly where you need it set, remove the shape of the stone into the soil and then remove the grass and level the ground. This may ensure that the stones will stay put and won’t break as time passes.
So, as you can see, installing stepping stones can be an easy and fulfilling task that almost anyone will be able to accomplish hassle-free.
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