Let’s be real, if you’re getting a patio built you want the best flagstone patio in Virginia. Skilled installers are obviously important, but there are a some design decisions you can make up front that can make a huge difference.
Flagstone color options
Here in Virginia we mostly use Pennsylvania flagstone, so that’s what we’re primarily going to discuss. Pennsylvania flagstone is typically sold as full range and blue select. Full range is exactly what it sounds like: you get all the colors that can show up in the stone. As with any natural stone, Pennsylvania flagstone can be a little unpredictable. You’ll get different colors depending on what that particular vein of stone looks like. In addition to the blues and greys we associate with flagstone, you’ll also see yellows, reds/rust tones, and sometimes a little green or purple. Some people like the variation, some don’t. We hand pick the stone we use for each project so sometimes customers will ask us to do full range but limit the proportion of gold or red stones. That is not a problem!
Blue Select Pennsylvania flagstone comes from the exact same quarries as full range, they’ve just gone through and pulled the pieces that have the most consistent and homogenous color. Because there’s a little more labor involved in this, we pay a little more for Blue Select.
the best Flagstone patio finish options
The two most common finish options for Pennsylvania flagstone are natural cleft and thermal. Which one gives you the best flagstone patio depends on a few factors. The way the quarries fabricate flagstone pieces is by splitting the slabs using a hydraulic guillotine. If you remember your middle school science classes, flagstone is a sedimentary rock. That means it’s made up of a bunch of horizontal layers. Think plywood, or phyllo dough. The guillotine blade forces those layers apart at the point of contact so it’s a clean split but NOT a cut.
That means that you’ll still have some irregularities in the surface of the flagstone. Rather than being perfectly flat and smooth, there can be some high points and some low points. The quarry tries to eliminate the really nasty ones, but if some slip through we make sure they don’t get to you. If you want a perfectly smooth surface, you want thermal.
Thermal flagstone is natural cleft flagstone that uses water + heat to pop off the high points, leaving you with a much flatter surface with sort of an orange peel texture. At the quarry they do this with kilns. Occasionally we need to do it in the field, in which case we use an oxyacetylene torch.
When to use thermal flagstone
I like to use thermal flagstone on front walks, and for patios in commercial spaces. It gives the smoothest and safest finish which can be vital for someone with mobility issues. Natural cleft is perfectly safe, thermal is just… a little smoother.
the best Flagstone patio thickness
Pennsylvania flagstone is most commonly sold in 1”, 1.5”, and 2” thickness. Which is the choice for the best flagstone patio? Well, we usually use 2” if we’re dry setting it (no mortar). That little bit of extra thickness and weight keeps the pieces from shifting, and also keeps them from cracking if the sand or stone dust underneath settles and creates a void. We use 1” when laying it in mortar on a concrete slab, because it’s a little less expensive, goes down faster, and gives us a little more flexibility when meeting up with door thresholds and such.
Where flagstone thickness can make a huge difference is when you see the edge of the flagstone. In addition to being less susceptible to damage, thicker flagstone just looks better. The photo above shows what a difference an inch can make. The before picture is 1” natural cleft flagstone, which just doesn’t look right with the scale of the house. In the after picture, we redid the front of the house with 2” thermal Blue Select flagstone. As you can see it makes a big difference.
If you’re looking for a flagstone patio or walkway for your house, we’d love to work with you! Fill out the form below and let’s talk.