Have you ever embarked on a home project that will NOT end? A year later and still dealing with repairs to our front walkway.
What seemed to be a straight forward repair job turned into a looong drawn out saga. The problem? Bringing in the wrong people to do the job. Has this happened to you too? Let’s go back to last year and I’ll recount my experience.
My regular landscaper/stone mason wasn’t available to do a flagstone walkway repair job, so he recommended someone he knew who had done quite a bit of work for him in the past. I was ok with that except that the “recommended person” didn’t do the job himself, he subbed it out….and so the saga began.
In Restoring an Old Crumbling Flagstone Walkway I talked about the process of reusing the stone we already own to repair the walkway instead of buying new stone. That was a great money saving idea and I stand behind that decision. The flagstone was still in great shape but the mortar was badly corroded and in need of repair. All the stones were removed, a new cement base replaced the old one and the stones were reused.
Would you rather watch a video of how we restored the walkway, click HERE. I also how how the flagstone repair has held up 5 years later.
After the new landscaping was in place, I noticed something. Take a look at the walkway from this angle. Notice the gaps between the stones and cement base? What’s that all about!!?? This wasn’t noticeable when the old bushes were covering the area, once they were cleared, it became very apparent that the cement base wasn’t as secure as it should be.
This seems like a great home to rodents, snakes and other animals…not to mention issues that water getting into the cracks and crevices would cause as well.
Did I also mention that pieces of the mortar were starting to separate?! After only one year? 🙄
I made the mistake of allowing a sub – sub contractor to do the initial job, but my contractor is taking responsibility and fixing the mistakes.
Back at it again – cutting the stone to repair the cracking pieces of mortar and resetting with a stronger adhesive.
The walkway is long and pieces are removed and repaired.
This is the area where the cement base was not secure, you can see the crumbling base beneath the stones, looks like a sloppy job to me.
The guys worked in the rain to get the job done.
The pieces of the puzzle are put back together.
The cracks are repaired and filled.
I’m hoping this will hold for years to come🤞.
Some of the flagstone is a dark rust color which I like.
That’s a wrap…..for now 🙂
Have you had any similar experiences with contractors? Drop me a line.
Denise
XO
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4 thoughts on “More Repairs to Our Flagstone Walkway”
Oh boy – I hope this is the final lap! But it looks lovely now! 💗 I’m most impressed that your original contractor took responsibility. I’ve had the opposite happen a couple times and it’s really frustrating. Thanks for passing on the details – maybe we’ll all have an easier go of it next time! 🙂 Wonderful post my friend!
I hope this is the final lap too Barb! Ugh..so frustrating, so many other projects going on too. But yes, I am thankful that my contractor took responsibility, he’s a good guy and still does a lot of work for us. Always a pleasure to have you visit.
In our industy horror stories are too often the case. Happy your project has a happy ending!
Thank you my friend. You are right, many times the ending is not happy and I’ve had my fair share of those too. Lucky this one wasn’t one of them. Appreciate you stopping by!
After the new landscaping was in place, I noticed something. Take a look at the walkway from this angle. Notice the gaps between the stones and cement base? What’s that all about!!?? This wasn’t noticeable when the old bushes were covering the area, once they were cleared, it became very apparent that the cement base wasn’t as secure as it should be.
This seems like a great home to rodents, snakes and other animals…not to mention issues that water getting into the cracks and crevices would cause as well.
Did I also mention that pieces of the mortar were starting to separate?! After only one year? 🙄
I made the mistake of allowing a sub – sub contractor to do the initial job, but my contractor is taking responsibility and fixing the mistakes.
Back at it again – cutting the stone to repair the cracking pieces of mortar and resetting with a stronger adhesive.
The walkway is long and pieces are removed and repaired.
This is the area where the cement base was not secure, you can see the crumbling base beneath the stones, looks like a sloppy job to me.
The guys worked in the rain to get the job done.
The pieces of the puzzle are put back together.
The cracks are repaired and filled.
I’m hoping this will hold for years to come🤞.
Some of the flagstone is a dark rust color which I like.
That’s a wrap…..for now 🙂
Oh boy – I hope this is the final lap! But it looks lovely now! 💗 I’m most impressed that your original contractor took responsibility. I’ve had the opposite happen a couple times and it’s really frustrating. Thanks for passing on the details – maybe we’ll all have an easier go of it next time! 🙂 Wonderful post my friend!
I hope this is the final lap too Barb! Ugh..so frustrating, so many other projects going on too. But yes, I am thankful that my contractor took responsibility, he’s a good guy and still does a lot of work for us. Always a pleasure to have you visit.
In our industy horror stories are too often the case. Happy your project has a happy ending!
Thank you my friend. You are right, many times the ending is not happy and I’ve had my fair share of those too. Lucky this one wasn’t one of them. Appreciate you stopping by!