I don't know the pavers from Menards, but I imagine they are made by a regular paver-making company. That they are 2 3/8" thick and concrete, I think you will be fine.

It depends on the manufacturer. Lower quality pavers can fade, they can have a lower compressive strength and be more prone to cracking, they can even wear down over time to where you see a lot more of the aggregate. Just because the pavers are technically still in place and functioning as pavers doesn't mean you want to keep looking at them.

We don't have Menards here, but I know that in the past the pavers sold at the box stores around here were made by a pretty low-tier manufacturer. If I was planning on being in the house 5 years or less, sure. They'll be someone else's problem. Otherwise I'd probably go for a better quality manufacturer.

I don't know of any pavers that don't do those things. That concrete wears slowly over time is a fact of life. Low compressive strength would be potentially the worst characteristic but this is not something that can be told from looking. It would take engineering testing (such as from a data sheet.) It is not going to be as big a deal for patio as it would be for a drive or road.

Your last sentence says it all Eric, regard the pavers as the icing on a solid flat cake, Can you describe how you intend to prepare the base?

Can you say which Unilock product you are considering? We have a front walkway of Unilock Brussels in Limestone. It was installed five years ago. We are now adding a backyard paver patio and will be using the same product. I realize there may be a slight color difference (from fading) but I am happy that I will have one cohesive material for all of my hardscaping.

Not to knock Menards (I actually really like them but their store is a good 45 minute trip from my home) but the big box stores often change inventory as the trends change. If you ever want to expand the pavers, add columns or a firepit, or need to replace a broken one, it might be easier with Unilock.

Thank you for the responses! For the base, we are adding 4" of #53 crushed limestone (recommend by a local company) and 1" of sand. I was told by multiple dealers and contractors in my location that 4" would be fine, even though we considered going up to 6". The base will be tampered with a plate compactor.

As for the Unilock pavers, we haven't really decided on a specific type. We were mostly looking at price. Unfortunately, it seems like most dealers in my area (Indiana), don't have a wide variety. They needed to special order some of the ones I inquired about. That would cost additional money which we aren't interested in doing. We really like the ones at Menards, but I understand that they might not be of the same high quality. They're also pretty big (large is 16x24 72lbs), so not quite as easy to position. However, the patio is going next to a pool and I like that these pavers have a smooth top for walking on bare foot. I went to a local dealer yesterday to look at some Unilock pavers and while they seemed great quality, they all were a pretty rough on top and about 3x the price. I'm sure they are great for a patio, but not exactly the most comfortable for walking on bare foot by a pool. I'm sure Unilock has some smoother ones, but this dealer didn't have them.

Thanks again for the replies. It is greatly appreciated!

Good luck. And Menards has one of the better online deck and patio FREE programs out there. I used it a lot last year trying out different permutations for the area. Gave a good shopping list at the end too.

Eric, Do you have an update on how happy you are in hindsight with the Menards pavers? I'm considering the same ones or the lower end of Unilock. I've to a supplier 3 miles away but the cost is 75% more for the Unilock. Also for anyone else who wants to weigh in, we're in northern Indiana so face plenty of freeze in the winter if that comes into play.

Awesome all that info was very helpful and and thank you for the ASTM info and Midwest Manufacturing name. I was going to hunt those down next.

@Kelsen N Alyson Depp, no problem! Here is what I was specifically referring to: https://www.midwestmanufacturing.com/MidwestWebsite/web/cms/docs/ConcreteSpecsGuide.pdf It's on the last page.

I just installed a patio yesterday with these pavers. The large pavers (24x16) I received were very prone to cracking. So much so that I returned 14 of the 66 pavers I received from Menards because they arrived cracked. I ran a plate compactor with a rubber pad attachment and it caused 7 pavers to crack. My guess is that this is about inconsistent quality. Some people seem not to have had problems but the batch I received was quite weak.