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Front-Walkway Rehab With Bluestone and Cobblestone An all-too-pedestrian front walk gets more pedestrian-friendly with a bluestone walkway and cobblestone border. From "Rock Solid" episode DROC-308

Upgrading a walkway can immediately enhance a home. It's a project with broad appeal.

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	Before
	After

In this Rock Solid project, professional stone masons Dean Marsico and Derek Stearns transform an ugly concrete and asphalt walkway into a welcoming stone path for a Braintree, Massachusetts home. Using thermal faced bluestone, perfect for paving walkways, Dean and Derek take this thirty-foot walkway from a muddy mess to an elegant entrance.

Tools:

grinder with diamond blade
gas compactor
trowel
flat trowel
sledge hammer
nylon string
square
spikes
hammer
line level
wheelbarrow
tape measure
level
rubber mallet
shovel
hoe
marking paint
rake
broom
safety glasses
dust mask

Materials:

bluestone
cobblestone
crusher run
concrete sand
premixed mortar

Note: The quantities needed for each of these materials varies with the application. For your specific project, Dean and Derek suggest taking your dimensions to a local quarry, where they will calculate the amount of each product needed. Remember to add 10 percent for waste.

Design And Materials

Dean and Derek transform an ugly, concrete and asphalt walkway into a welcoming stone path. Upgrading a walkway can immediately enhance a home. Using thermal faced bluestone, perfect for paving walkways, Dean and Derek take this thirty-foot walkway from a muddy mess to an elegant entrance.

Dean and Derek tackle a few issues in this project. The walkway floods when it rains; it's too narrow; and the design – half slate and concrete, half asphalt – is unattractive. They replace this old walkway with a wider one made of bluestone bordered by granite cobblestone. The new bluestone walkway will complement the front steps of this house.

	Figure A
	Figure B

Demolition

The first step is to demolish the old walkway and pull up the asphalt, slate and concrete (figures A and B). Use a sledge hammer to break up the old asphalt and slate.

Safety Alert: Always use safety glasses when you demo. Also be careful when you break up the slate. The pieces are very sharp, so it's a good idea to wear gloves.

Dean and Derek are removing two different materials, slate and asphalt. It's a good idea to separate them and then recycle them at a local quarry. The quarry will not recycle materials unless they are separated. Check with your local quarry about recycling programs in your area. Used asphalt can be recycled to make new asphalt which cuts down on waste in landfills.

Sometimes you may encounter surprises when you demo. In this case, for instance, Dean and Derek find the other half of the slate walkway under the asphalt. It is probable that tar was poured onto the old slate to help with the water problem.

Rock Solid Pro Tip: When you demo concrete, you may need something heavier than a sledge hammer, such as a jack hammer. To determine if you need to rent a jack hammer, hit the concrete with the sledge hammer. If you hear an echo, you can assume that there isn't a thick layer of concrete. If the sledge hammer bounces right back up, you might need to rent a jack hammer.

Find the Center-Point Off the Front Steps

First, find the center point off the first step. This will be the center of the walkway. The steps are 64 inches wide, so the center point is at 32 inches. Tie a piece of nylon string to a spike and hammer it into the ground at the center point mark. Using a square, pull a straight, taut line from one end of the walkway to the other and hold the line in place with another spike.

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