need advice on stepping stone path

[lawnagent]

I have a lady who has asked me to renovate the walkway between her driveway and porch. It is about 20ft. in length. She has the square stepping stones from Lowes or Home Depot. They have sank into the ground for the most part and water stands on top of them. The whole pathway is a couple of inches lower than the surrounding yard so I know I will have to build it up. Her husband installed these stones a couple of years ago and he died of cancer so she has the sentimintal thing going on and wants to reuse the same stones. This is a country house so ther are no building codes to go by or anything.
I am primarily a mower so I need your input. Here is what my little ole brain was thinking of. I would pull out stones and dig out the pathway to level and square up the sides. Apply a layer of weed block. Then I would put down some gravel for a base. Top it off with sand and put the stones of top of that. She does not want any concrete or morter used.
Am I right? Am I in the ballpark? Am I so far gone there is no hope?:D All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[NCSULandscaper]

I would not use sand, i would use a small pea stone. Sand would sink even more unlike the gravel. If you dont have a pesticide license then you can put down the weed fabric, but if you do then just treat it chemically and forget about fabrics. Just level out the soil base, pack it slightly, lay down your fabric, level out your gravel, then lay down the stepping stines and set them with a rubber hammer to level out, then fill in between with more gravel.

[kickin sum grass]

I am assuming that the square stones are like 12 x 12 or similar. The base under these needs to be done extra careful. These larger stones will crack much easier than a paver will. Maker sure you have a sufficient base and compact really well. Make sure it is flat and level. Thses things take more prep work than a paver walk and I have seen many of these stones cracked from improper base install. You can do this as a whole walk or just under each stone but make sure it is done well.

[ZX12R]

In addition to the above posts,you can also use stone dust which is very easy to work with and packs well.

[Team Gopher]

Hi LawnAgent,

Here is a site that may be helpful. Click image for link.

http://www.bhg.com.au/gardening.nsf/4a0f132842ea4d354a25685d0011fa04/b6c8f98a44aee4e7ca256c7f001a5e98/WebPageBody/0.1D40?OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=jpg (http://www.bhg.com.au/gardening.nsf/Content/bhg_article_xmas02_steppingstonepath)

"Add the bedding sand and level the surface roughly with a float or trowel. Tamp the surface to ensure it is well compacted. Coarse-grained sand is a better bedding sand than some of the fine-grained beach sands as it compacts to a firm base and, at the same time, provides good drainage qualities."

[lawnagent]

Thanks for the responses. Yes these are the 12" by 12" squares.