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Eat-Out Kitchen, Part 3: Stone Patio and Curved Stone Wall An ordinary backyard gets transformed with an ideal space for outdoor dining and entertaining. See more outdoor-room creations from DIY's Indoors Out. From "Indoors Out" episode DIND-102

The finished outdoor kitchen with curved stone wall and paver patio.

Dean Marsico and Derek Stearns transform a neglected urban back yard into a tranquil, modern, eat-out kitchen. As part of the project they build two sturdy, curved stone walls set on a beautiful flagging patio.

Below is a summary of the basic steps as seen in this Indoors Out project, as well as a list of materials and tools used and some installation tips.

Note: The quantities needed for each of the materials listed may vary with your own particular application. For your specific project, Dean and Derek suggest taking the dimensions to a local materials supplier, where they will calculate the amount of each product needed.

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The completed space features a curved stone wall, stone pavers, new plants and accent lighting to create an atmosphere that's perfect for relaxing or entertaining.

Tools:

spade shovels
landscaping rake
string
straight 2x4 or flat board for screeding
masonry chisels
stone hammer
chipping hammer
rubber mallet
trowel
jointing trowel
masonry grinder with diamond blade
2-ft or 6-ft level
wheelbarrow and mixing hoe (for mixing)

Materials:

3/4-inch gravel or crushed stone
concrete sand or stone dust
irregular flagging stone
carderock stone (or any local stone)
concrete
mortar
bluestone treads

Safety Alert: Make sure you are wearing safety glasses when using power tools, and especially when cutting stone.

Steps:

• First step is to mark out the design. Mark out both the patio and wall dimensions. Dig down six to eight inches for the base of the patio and put in three to four inches of compacted gravel or crushed stone, followed by an inch of leveled and screeded concrete sand.

• Begin setting the patio stone. Piece the stone together to minimize the width of joints. If a stone needs to be cut, it can be shaped to size with a chipping hammer. Level each stone and push it into the sand by hammering it with the rubber mallet.

• Fill in the joints with your choice of P-gravel, sand or mulch. Dean and Derek made use of the leftover concrete sand from the project.

• For the stone patio, dig down, then mix and spread a 6-inch concrete footing for both walls. Allow the footing to set up overnight, then begin setting stone.

  Tip: If you live in an area prone to frost heaves, add re-bar for strength and stability.

• Mix up a batch of mortar. If you're using accent boulders, as Dean and Derek did in this project, make sure you know where they're ultimately going to be placed. You’ll set the boulders while you’re building up the wall.
  

  	Before
  	After

• Using a trowel, spread a layer of mortar on top of the concrete footing. Begin setting stone. As you work, use stones of different sizes and break the joints. If a stone isn't the shape you want it, use a chipping hammer or stone hammer and chisel to shape it to size.

• You can use a piece of string stretched between two pieces of rebar to establish the height of your wall. Make sure that your last course of stone evenly meets the height of that string. Once the wall is at the desired height, you are ready to cap the wall.

• Dean and Derek use bluestone treads for the caps in this project. Dry lay your stones first to determine cuts. Then you can either make the cuts using a diamond-blade grinder or take them to a quarry to have them cut.

• Set the stones on a bed of mortar and, using a level and the rubber mallet tap them into the mortar until there is a strong bond and the stone is level. Finish up by filling the joints with jointer.

RESOURCES :

Resources for Indoors Out, episode 102:

Groff Landscape and Design
Website: www.grofflandscapedesign.com

Mirage Stone
Website: www.miragestone.com

Tri-State Stone
Website: http://www.carderock.com

Olde Towne Historic Landscape
Website: http://oldetownehistoriclandscape.com

John Deere Landscapes
Website: www.johndeerelandscapes.com

Vista Lighting
Website: www.vistapro.com

TW Perry
Website: www.twperry.com