A friend of mine owns a natural tile shop and sells slate. I would call around to some natural stone suppliers and ask them. You can find them in the Yellow pages. I completed a similar project and hauled all the stone in the back of my minivan!

Awesome stayathomedad! Would you mind sharing pics of your project? That means, I can also use my minivan to bring 'em home. :D

Is there a difference between slate and flagstone or are they the same? Which ever is cheaper, that's what I will buy.

Oh, I've also seen the word "quarry". What is it?

Thanks!

I have another question. I was able to watch how my patio was being built at the old house. I think they dug like 8 inches deep. Then pour 4 inch of small stones, followed by 1 inch of sand. They compact it first before putting another layer.

My question is about the 4 inch small stones. Is it gravel or crushed stones? What about the sand, is there a specific sand I should buy?

Baserock and sharp sand are what your looking for as a base. look at the instructions for installing pavers. The rock can be found at most landscape supply houses. the rock comes in various thicknesses and colors. 3/4" is the thinnest I have seen and they go up to a couple inches thick. flagstone is also avail.

Today, we looked for stones. I fell in love with the slate. They're like 2 ft x 1 ft. Actually, there are different dimensions. My wife and I loved it and agreed that it should be the one we should put. However, the nursery told us that they don't carry it. It was just put by another company. She gave me the contact number though.

Also, did some research yesterday. My friend told me that he used crushed limestones for the base. For the sand, I have no information yet. So sharp sand is what I should look for then.

Oh, I saw flagstones today at the same place. I don't like it anymore since they look like they're not safe for kids. they're sharp.

Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it. :)