Slate is durable and attractive, but it can require a lot of work to turn it into a walkway or patio. Now there's a product available that allows homeowners to create a slate walkway in just one day. Thin pieces of slate are adhered to foam panels, and the panels are laid over sand and gravel.
Materials needed:
circular saw with masonry blade
hammer and nails
screw gun and screws
tamping tool
measuring tape
stringline
wheelbarrow
flat shovel
gloves
safety glasses
The first step is to make a layout for your slate walkway. You might want to make a drawing (figure A) to use as a reference later.
Your layout starts with string lines attached to wooden stakes. Place a string line on each side of your walkway, making sure the two lines are parallel. When you come to a corner, place a stake at the corner and extend the line to the next end point of your walkway. You can fine-tune your angles later, when you install the edging.
Next is the not-so-fun part: digging. Use a flat shovel to cut into your grass sod along the edges of your walkway. Then push the flat shovel under the sod and dig it out. Save a few big pieces. You can use the sod later, to fill along the edges.
Once your sod is removed, dig the soil down to form an even trench about three inches below the surrounding surface.
For the edging you could use brick, landscape timbers or plastic. Another good option is treated 2 by 4s. This will provide a nice clean edge, and they're easy to trim when you get to corners.
Place the edge boards under one of your string-lines. Then, at the corners fasten the boards together with 3-inch screws (figure B). Drive a wooden stake in the ground on the outside of the first board and fasten the stake to the board with two screws (figure C). Then, place another stake at the other end of the board . Before you fasten it, adjust the height of the board to follow the contour of the ground.
You'll want your edge boards to be level with each other along the length of your walkway. Place a level across the two boards and check the position of the bubble (figure D). If it's not quite in the center, that's okay. Move the level along the boards and adjust the boards so that the bubble is in the same position all along the walkway.
The next step is to add sand to your trench. You'll need this to create a solid base for your walkway. Pour a layer of sand into the walkway area, and smooth it out with a screeding board (figure E), which you can make by notching the ends of a 1 by 4 board. Then, tamp it down (figure F) so it makes a solid two -inch base for your slate panels. You can rent a tamping tool or simply make one out of plywood.
* Use coarse sand to provide good drainage.
Now, place your panels in the walkway. When you're installing any walkway product over sand, you'll have to add or remove sand so the panels will be even. After you place a panel, rock it back and forth to make sure it's seated firmly.
Between each slate panel use a 3/8" spacer to create the proper gap for a grout line. Wherever your walkway panels are too large or the wrong shape for the situation , you can cut them to size using a masonry blade in a circular saw.
To finish the job, remove the spacers and push a foam backer rod into the gap (figure G), about 1/4" below the surface. Then apply an even bead of butyl sealant that matches the color of your grout (figure H).
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