DIY Stepping Stones Jig for Quick Laying

This DIY stepping stones jig will speed up your workflow without the need for string lines or measuring. You can use it for staggering, straight rows, round slabs, or square. The choice is yours!

You can also watch me using it in my YouTube video here.

Recently, I showed you how I worked on my DIY gravel pathway with path edging and stepping stones. It's really transformed my garden and made walking up to my workshop shed a bliss.

But towards the end, I wasn't quite sure what paving slabs I would go for until I settled on 14 small round stepping stones.

They were cheap and local, but I knew I had my work cut out constantly using a tape measure compared to laying fewer, larger ones. So I had a plan I'd like to share with you to help speed up your workflow.

My Stepping Stone Jig Explained

My stepping stone is a simple wooden L-shaped jig, cut to my desired dimensions after doing some basic maths which I'll cover shortly.

• The bottom horizontal section works as a spacer between each stepping stone - round or square
• The upper vertical section acts as a spacer from a path edging or border you are positioning it near

So, once you've worked out the distance you want between each, it's a matter of ripping timber down to create your own custom-made jig. It could be used for square pavers or round stepping stones as I did.

For staggering looks, you can use it to position your first one, then flip and repeat.

How to Make a Custom Made Jig

Here are some maths to make life easy for you, and I highly recommend always doing a dry lay first to check you're on the right path. Get it? 😂

Vertical Section (No Maths Needed Here)

• Rip down timber for the space you want from your border
• Note, I used an offcut of 10mm OSB

Horizontal Spacer Section

Please refer to my diagram below to help

• A: Measure the internal length of your path
• B: Subtract the paver length x quantity you're laying
• C: Divide by the amount of paving spaces
• = the height of the horizontal paver spacer you need

A - B ÷ C = paver spacer height you need to cut

Extra Paver Jig Notes

1. The lengths don't matter that much. As long as it's cut straight and long enough to keep the slabs straight.
   
2. Providing you have a perfect 90° angle, circular pavers will push into the corner and it will suit square or rectangular pavers, too.
   
3. If you're working around an evenly curved border, you could even scribe the section that will sit against it
   
4. If you don't have a straight edge to work off, you could try positioning it against a string line, or try to secure something like long CLS structural timber. Or even pegged down some decking.

How I Made a Patio Jig

After taking my measurements, I ripped down offcuts of whatever I had on my bandsaw using a mix of OSB and plywood, approx 10mm thick. You could use a handsaw, but I love my new tool.

Above, you can see I have 1 vertical piece, and two identical horizontal bottom paver spacers sandwiched together with any old offcut at one end and the vertical piece on the other side.

To fix it together, I just glued and nailed gunned it together.

Key Tips Using This Paving Slab Step

• Always do a dry lay first to incase you haven't done your maths right
• When offering up your paver to the jig while bedding in mortar, you'll need to check with the jig after getting your slab level in case it's moved
• You can use, flip, use flip
• OR, make the side section wide enough to allow an even, central row of square or round slabs
• It's unlikely to work with random shaped slabs, but that's what dry lays are for!

Copyright Disclaimer

Sharing or copying and pasting any part of this tutorial, including pictures and diagrams is strictly prohibited on any social media or website unless you have my written consent.

This jig is for personal use only, but if you would like to share this jig while laying your own DIY garden path, then please only share this webpage link.

I do not grant anyone to copy this design for business use.