How to Glue Flagstone to a Front Stoop
- 1). Put on safety goggles, work gloves and a dust mask.
- 2). Apply a masonry stripper with a wide paintbrush to remove old paint or sealers from the stoop. Scrape the paint or sealer off the surface with a scraper. Rinse the stoop with water from a garden hose. Let the stoop dry.
- 3). Examine the stoop for high spots, cracks and depressions. Rub a wire brush over the entire stoop. Concentrate on high spots to make them even and level with the stoop. Sweep the debris off the stoop with a stiff broom.
- 4). Apply hydraulic cement with a metal putty knife to fill in cracks and low spots. Smooth the hydraulic cement so it is level with the surface of the stoop.
- 5). Measure the clearance from the top of the stoop's landing to the bottom of the door with a tape measure. Buy flagstone that is at least one-quarter thinner than the distance from the landing to the bottom of the door.
- 6). Lay the flagstone in place and mark the stones that require cutting with a grease pencil. Make all necessary cuts with a wet saw.
- 7). Insert a tube of specialized masonry adhesive into a caulking gun.
- 8). Apply masonry adhesive to the flagstone that will cover the stair risers. Set the flagstone in place on the riser, press in place and lay a piece of lumber at a 45 degree angle to brace the flagstone for three to five minutes. Masonry adhesive bonds quickly. Continue to apply adhesive, set the flagstone and brace the flagstones until you cover the risers.
- 9). Pick up a flagstone, beginning on the stoop's landing, and turn it over. Apply the masonry adhesive in an S-pattern over the back of the flagstone. Set the flagstone in place on the landing. Press down forcefully with your hands to tightly bond the flagstone to the landing. You can also wrap a piece of carpeting around a 2-by-4-inch piece of wood and drive nails into the carpet seams to hold the carpet on the wood. Rub the carpet-covered wood over the flagstone while pressing down forcefully to bond the flagstone to the landing.
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Continue to lift the flagstone, turn it over, apply masonry adhesive and set the flagstone in place until flagstone covers all horizontal surfaces of the stoop. - 11
Squeeze an S-pattern bead of masonry adhesive over the back of the flagstone. Set the flagstone in place on the side of the stoop, beginning at the base of the stoop. Press the flagstone in place and brace. Continue to set flagstone on the sides of the stoop until flagstone covers the concrete sides.
