How To Restore a Stone Walkway

An 80-year-old stone walkway gets a thorough makeover to become good as new again.

By Steve Jordan

After nearly a century of use, parts of the walkway were falling to pieces, but a careful repair with properly sourced stone made it good as new again. Photos by Andy Olenick

A

Nothing makes a statement like a walkway of substantial stone. Sure, bricks, pavers, and concrete—plain, stamped, or stained—are all appropriate outside-the-old-house materials, but quarried stone is the threshold for the best. Stone walkways aren't exactly common, however, because large stones are expensive, and working with them is difficult. Walks of large natural stones will outlast the alternatives by a mile, but despite their durability, they often require maintenance after decades of use—especially when located in parts of the country with severe weather. Case in point is this walkway in Rochester, New York, which needed a facelift after enduring decades of harsh winters.

Assessing the Damage
The walkway, which sits outside an 80-year-old Gothic Revival house, was mostly intact, but many of its unusually large stones were heaved, some were cracked, and some had even been replaced with inappropriate materials. When the homeowner asked Marty Naber, owner of Naberhood Restoration, to take on the project, Marty knew he had his work cut out for him. The original stones were all 5" to 6" thick, laid in a pattern of one 3' x 4' stone separated by two 11⁄2' x 2' stones down the 4'-wide walk. Such hulking stones are very heavy, and thus more resistant to frost heaving and movement—the main reason big stones have always been the preferred material for steps and small porches. They are also, of course, difficult to quarry, difficult to transport, and difficult to maneuver into position. Consequently they aren't seen on walkways every day.

B

C

The heaved and damaged stones were a tripping hazard, and the grade around the walkway had shifted. (Leaves, grass clippings, and wind-blown particles can increase grades by as much as a foot over 100 years' time; for this reason, it's not uncommon for older houses to need grade work around foundations, driveways, and walks). Marty knew he would have to raise the grade and re-level the walkway, as well as repair any broken and mismatched stones.

To prepare the walkway for the task ahead, Marty pressure-washed its surface [A] to remove moss and evaluate the condition of the original Medina stone. Then he put the power washer down and pulled up any grass growing between the stones by hand [B], so as not to damage the edges of the stones with the powerful water spray. Once the stones were cleaned, Marty examined them for damage. Stones with slight dings or missing corners could be reused, but stones with major cracks or damage would need to be replaced. Marty could then calculate how much replacement stone he needed, and went about color-matching the replacements to areas of the walkway too damaged to save. As it turned out, most of the stones in need of replacement weren't originals, but rather poor substitutes patched in through the years—thin slate flagstones that didn't match the durability of the Medina.

D

E

F

The next step was to remove the stones [C]. Marty and his associate, Lou Callari, used pry bars to lift the stones on edge, then rolled them (on their edges) out of the work area, opposite where they originally lay. After all the stones had been removed, the men installed datum posts and mason's string lines along the path to make sure their work would be straight and follow the original walk.

Prepping the Base
The key to walkway longevity is a proper base beneath the stone. The right base promotes appropriate drainage and minimizes heaving. The original walkway's base consisted of nothing more than a thin layer of sand over the soil, but the new base would dig deeper.

Marty and Lou used shovels to excavate a 9" to 10" base [D], staying within the string lines. When they encountered tree roots, they cut them away with the shovel, a hatchet, or an ax. (A benefit of stone walkways is that individual pieces can be lifted one at a time if roots encroach over the years.) Next, they added 5" to 6" of finely crushed dolomite limestone and compacted it with a plate tamper [E]. Dolomite at this depth is a good base for a cold climate where frost heaving is a problem; a warmer climate could make do with a base around 4" thick. In order to prevent weeds or grass from popping up between the cracks, Marty and Lou then covered the compacted stone with landscape fabric [F], a membrane that lets moisture pass through, but not plant growth. Over this they installed a 1"-thick layer of 1-pound stone dust, which they also compacted and leveled.

Setting the Stones
With the newly level base ready, it was time to reset the stone, a slow, tedious process. Marty and Lou rolled the stones back into place one at a time, then laid them flat and shimmied them into position [G]. They reset several stones as many ten times to achieve the proper level across the top, adding or removing stone dust from the base with a trowel. The men knew the stones were properly placed when they sat firmly in the base and were even with the surface of the soil.

G

H

Where stones were missing, Marty supplied replacements from the cache of Medina stone he's salvaged from job sites and demolished buildings through the years. To keep the stones running squarely, Marty and Lou measured replacement stones and marked them to size (matching the dimensions of originals), then cut them down with a dry saw outfitted with a diamond blade [H].

After the walk was firm and level, the men swept 1-pound stone dust into the joints, then hosed the walkway down to nestle the dust into the cracks. To finish the job, they replaced the soil at the walk's edges, then spread grass seed over bare spots. In the spring, Marty will add more stone dust or polymeric sand to the joints as needed to help the walkway weather another 80 years.

Contributing Editor Steve Jordan is an old-house and preservation consultant in Rochester, New York. He's been writing for OHJ since 1989.


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