A quick guide to laying cobblestones

This is a quick guide to laying cobbles. It was inspired by my own poor attempt to lay cobblestones in the past.

I love cobblestones, natural elegance. They can look both traditional and contemporary. They are quick to lay, last hundreds of years, and as they wear they get polished and look better.

Decorative cobbles in a Spanish plaza

Old cobbled path

Restored 16th century cobbles

Interior cobbles are a great way to seperate different floor designs and materials

The artist Francisco, your instructor for today

Francisco is a true artist. He beautifies the streets of Spain with cobblestones that will last hundreds of years. This work has just finished in our village, and I watched the progress with great interest! The dog will not appear again in this guide!

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Step 1. Choose your cobblestones.
You can collect cobbles from beaches and river beds or buy them. For general use - ie, paths and patios, choose stones that roughly fit in your hand.
For decorative effects and small areas use small thin cobbles. Note that smaller stones are not layed flat, but on their edge.
Step 2. Prepare the area for cobbling.
The area that Francisco is cobbling is a road suitable for cars, the base has to be at least one foot deep to carry the weight. For light use such as paths and patios the base needs to be twice the depth of the cobblestones. If you are using a cobblestone that fits in your hand your base should be 6-7 inches deep.

When you have dug out your base, it has to be filled with a dry mix of sand and cement. The correct mixture is 4 measures of sand to 1 measure of cement. Mix the sand and cement and spread it in the base until it's full and level.

On the dry sand and cement mix you can now lay your cobblestones. Francisco lays about 3 feet of cobbles then levels them, see below.

Step 3. Bedding in and levelling the cobbles.
The cobbles have to be level in the sand and cement. You do this by laying a piece of timber across the cobbles and tapping it with a big hammer.
You get the idea! Lay a few feet of cobbles, then level them with the timber and the hammer.
This is how they should look after levelling.
Step 4. Brushing sand and cement across the cobblestones.
When you've finished laying and levelling the whole area, it's time to fill the gaps.

Francisco shovels dry sand and cement mixture onto the level cobblestones.
Then he uses a broom to spread the mixture accross the entire area. The brushed sand and cement should be level with top of the cobblestones.

This isn't looking very good at the moment but all will be transformed in step 5.
Step 5. The final step, spraying water.
Francisco sprays the whole area with water. It's very important to use a spray on the hose and not too much pressure, the first spray is gentle shower. You could use a garden watering can.
Continue spraying for at least one hour, it must be soaked with water.
Leave the cobblestones alone for 24 hours and don't walk on them.

After 24 hours you can walk on your creation. Keep soaking with water every day for a week. Cobbles love lots of water.
Finally, stand back and admire your work.
A big thank you to Francisco, and all the artists who make the roads of Europe beautiful to walk on.