Flagstone patios cost more to install than brick pavers. Two significant variables factor into this cost difference.
First, flagstone is natural stone, not manufactured, and natural stone is quarried and mined. The flagstone material itself costs more than bricks.
Secondly, flagstone, for the most part, are larger pieces than brick and have different thicknesses, unlike brick’s uniformity. Each flagstone piece must be set individually, and the pieces must fit together much like a jigsaw puzzle. This increases the amount of time required to construct a flagstone patio or walk rather than using brick. More labor, more cost.
Brick pavers are uniform in thickness and size; you can set the base level off the bedding sand and start laying bricks fairly quick. Not so for flagstone.
The basic foundation for flagstone is the same as brick pavers – 5 to 6″ of compacted gravel base and bedding sand.
In my opinion, natural stone is more aesthetically pleasing.
I built this flagstone patio in 2007:
