Anyone know how to patch flagstone?

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RANDY M

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Jul 19, 2010
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Santa Clarita, CA
After many years of neglect I’m trying to make the back yard look presentable.
Pool re-plastered & tiled.
Had the flagstone "inside the pool" bead blasted to remove heavy calcium deposits along waterline.

Sealed the flagstone in pool with 511 Seal & Enhance to cover the calcium that couldn’t be completely removed.

Now I need to try and match that wet look sealer in the pool to the flagstone deck. Before sealing I would like to try to fill where there are several layers missing in spots.

Was thinking mixing mortar with cement color mixes.
Maybe a bonding agent before to help the mortar stick?

Anyone ever try something like this? Or any thoughts or suggestions
besides ripping it out and replacing with something pool friendly.

Thanks
 

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Honestly....I think it’s a terrible idea to do what you’re proposing. I have FS coping too but it has held up very well as it is a high quality locally quarried stone and I know other states have scattered quality (many areas in Texas seems to have poor quality FS). So I know what you’re looking at. In my honest personal opinion, I think you’re trading a “natural” looking stone surface for what will inevitably look like a cheap patch as you will not easily be able to replicate the color or texture of the FS. It will also not last for very long before it begins to chip or spall away and then it will look far worse than what you have now.

I would simply seal what you have and save up for new coping and decking.

As I said, my 2 cent opinion from one FS owner to another....
 
I think you have a fan Matt. Do you think I should remove the layers that come up easily before sealing or just re-seal as the spalling happens. Did you seal your flagstone? If yes did you use an enhancer type that gives it a wet look? Thanks for help.
 
I did not seal my flagstone and don't ever plan to.

Not sure how much you want to "exfoliate" the flagstone...like picking at a scab, once you start you might go too far. I'd say scrub it with a stiff brush and fresh water to clean it up and see what comes off; anything that doesn't come off with a good scrubbing stays on for sealing. At least that's how I would do it.

As for wet versus dry look, that's entirely up to your preference.
 
I have a guru when it comes to my FS coping. This is what I remember from his teachings. This is all just compressed sand. Worse still, whatever the process, it's primarily thin layers of compressed sand, compressed together. 1/8" thick. 1/4" thick. 1/16" thick. Remember what happens to sand castles at high tide? Water, the great equalizer, and FS do not play well together.

So if you somehow invented a miraculous patching method that looked great and stuck like glue to your stone, it'd still be a fail. Because all that brilliant work is adhering only to the top layer of your flaking FS!!

Sealer will do absolutely nothing for that inherent problem. My FS was both flaking and loosening (creating sand on the surface). My guru and I applied a very expensive chemical that solved for the sand. It's not a sealer. It penetrates the stone and binds the molecules. Worked great. But even that did not solve for the flaking. It may have slowed it to some degree, and maybe the thinner flakes are holding together slightly better, but it certainly hasn't eliminated the flaking altogether. And I'm all but convinced there is no solution.

I've even fantasized about epoxying the entire surface, like the quarter inch layer of surface on a galley table or bar. Something to that effect. Just encase the whole thing in one giant layer of waterproof goo. But as much as I'd like to think that could work, more likely it'd solve for a year or two, and then the whole thing would peel right off for the same reason your patches would, 'cause they'd both be stuck to just that top layer of compressed sand.

Unless you luck out as Matt did, the reality is, FS is just flat out the wrong material to put around a pool. And this notion that it has something to do with salt water pools, blah, blah. So what. All pools are salt water pools eventually, so it's not any more or less appropriate for an SWG pool than non-SWG.

So my advice is my solution (is Matt's advice). Accept the inevitable. Don't trouble yourself about it now. Start saving up. Enjoy it for as long as you can stand it. Then tear it out and replace it...
 
Randy I would not do anything but seal the flagstone. Honestly your pool looks great and most of us here would be feel honored to show off such a pool. Just my 2 cents worth:cheers:
 

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RANDY M said:
Thanks everybody. That's what I'll do.
Any recommendations on what to replace it with when the time comes?
I'd like to keep the the irregular shaped concrete if possible.
Some sort of stone that could be set along a crooked line?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Since I've got those same irregular cuts all the way around my pool as you do (one of the things I like most about FS coping), both along the deck concrete and over the pool water, too, I've been wondering the same thing. When the time comes, I'm going to see if I can find a concrete wizard/artist that can recreate the FS in color and shape and do some sort of stamping that can also simulate the texture. I don't expect it to fool anyone, and I'm not expecting the amazing color striations of real stone, but if I can get the shape right, and the texture somewhat close with stamping, I'll hit up my guru stone guy to come in and use his artistry to stain the concrete to simulate the natural color variations of stone.

Or, after viewing the cost estimate for such a fantasy, I may end up just pouring in colored concrete and call it a day. They can draw in some expansion lines in a random stone-like way and from inside my house it'll remind me of the stone that once was.

I have no idea how that or anything else would be done over a pool full of water. Do you have to empty your pool for that kind of remodel? How do they form concrete to overhang a pool? Etc. Not looking forward to that phase of my pool...
 
All good advice here!

When I inherited a 17 yr old pool, the FS coping looks the same or perhaps slightly better than in your picture. I planned to use sealant at some point but the jagged or somehow sharp edges along the pool ditched the idea. We decided to re-plaster, new tiles and quartzite coping.

Due to the uneven or irregular thickness of your existing FS coping, replacing them with quartzite is ideal. You can use any coping material of your choice but you're most likely to replace the deck, too.

Before:


After:

 
Dirk said:
Or, after viewing the cost estimate for such a fantasy, I may end up just pouring in colored concrete and call it a day. They can draw in some expansion lines in a random stone-like way and from inside my house it'll remind me of the stone that once was.
Click to expand...

I like the colored poured in place coping but I was told by one of the experts here that poured in place coping should be at least 3" thick. Only possible if we have to replace the deck to level out.
 
Uhg, I hadn't thought of that. Assuming the existing deck is 3" thick, maybe it's just a matter of jack hammering out the FS coping, far enough down into whatever is below it, and allowing for the new thickness. Trim the edge tile, too, in necessary? I suppose that would cost me an inch or two of water depth, as well. Uhg.

Man, I would hate to lose my deck. It has FS "veins" running through it, radiating out, perpendicular to my coping. I would really hate to lose those. They, and many other FS sections throughout my backyard, are holding up fine. Virtually no flaking and never did have that sand problem. Proof to me that the pool water is the culprit.
 
Ooh, helipad, yes. Looking into that now, thanks for suggesting it!! ;)

Only had winter shots, had to run out to snap a mid-summer: trees with leaves, and plants a growin' and shade sail a flyin'... You can just make out the FS "spokes" I was describing.

summer pool.jpg

You can also make out the deck has its own set of problems (it's discoloring and pitting around the lawns). Pesky water...
 
Thank you. Whoever designed my backyard (I bought most of what you're looking at from the previous owner) did a fantastic job. Virtually identical taste as mine. And that's the rub. If it had been some ugly thing (to me), then a complete remodel would have been more easily justified. But I just love it, exactly the way it is, and would be happy to live out my days with it just so. Maybe someday this will be the dated look. Maybe it is now for all I know. So what, I'm dated too! To have to spend, what, five figures just to make it look the same as it does now is going to sting...

Depending on how many years I get out of the current batch of FS, and the ongoing damage remains only to the coping, I'd be half tempted to just replace it with same. That might actually be the cheapest solution, and would maintain the look. Yes, it would likely just reset the clock on the damage, but conceivably that'll be my daughter's problem, not mine, when she inherits the mess I leave her!! ;)
 
Randy,
Maybe its just me, but I like flagstone that has some Character to it. If it were me, I would seal it and go with what nature made it.

There are lots of sealers on the market that when dry, leave a Wet Look. You dont have to do anything special to it. The more coats you put on, the wetter it will look - to a point.

I did 2 coats on my exposed aggregate deck and it looked wet, but 3 would have been much better. I know this because i had just a little bit left in the bucket after 2 coats and used it on the far side of my deck. That small part does stand out if you pay attention to it.
When I reseal next year, Im def going with at least 3 coats, and most likely 4.
 

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