When shopping around for hardscape materials such as concrete pavers and walls, there are places where you can buy that are cheaper than others. However, with most things in this world, buying something at a cheaper price means you are a buying cheaper quality. And hardscape materials are no different.
Where to Buy Pavers
Buying cheap materials in price and quality will eventually come back to bite you. Pavers need to be produced to ICPI (Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, now the Concrete Masonry and Hardscape Association or CMHA) standards which ensures the quality of that product. A major aspect of this is that pavers are built to a specific PSI (pounds per square inch) which adds to their strength and integrity. It is also part of what sets pavers apart from poured concrete because pavers are made in a factory setting where the quality be controlled whereas poured concrete is subject to the installer and environmental factors being poured outside.
Buying from a reputable manufacturer is important to factor when you are looking for the right product. Research the manufacturer that you are shopping for and see if they produce their product to ICPI (or CMHA) standards. These manufacturers do not (typically) deal with big box stores. Therefore, if you want to spend your money on a quality product you want to search for a landscape supplier near you. There are almost certainly several choices surrounding you that sell quality pavers, walls, and other hardscape materials. You can alternatively research the manufacturer that produces the product that you like the most and see where their dealers are located.
Definitely get the materials delivered. Unless you have a reliable truck and trailer, delivery is relatively inexpensive. As someone who worked for a landscape supplier for seven years, there were numerous customers that would come in day after day picking up their order when they could have saved a significant amount of time and wear and tear on their vehicle just getting the product delivered straight to their site.
Cheapest Place to Buy Pavers
Big box stores will be the cheapest place to buy pavers. As previously mentioned, this does not mean that these are quality products. In our experience and other hardscapers there are several problems with big box store hardscape products. They typically have very basic choices that are dated in style. They will also have major variances in dimensions from one paver or wall to the next.
This can be extremely frustrating during the installation process. As you lay the pavers, the heights will be off and you will need to scrap away the bedding material or build it up. For wall products that have different heights, this is even worse. You will need to use shims during the installation and between rows to get each course level or use an angle grinder with a cup wheel to grind down wall units to the correct height.
Marketplaces can be a solution to finding the cheapest product. You can sometimes even find free product. These would be used pavers that someone has lifted and just wants someone to come pick up them up rather than them paying for the disposal of that product. If you are just looking for something functional that is in a hidden area say for a garbage can pad, this could be your best option. It may be worthwhile to pressure wash and clean those pavers before installing them.
Besides searching for used product on online marketplaces, you can sometimes find new product. This is usually from a contractor or a homeowner that just has leftover product that they want to get rid of. This may be beneficial if you have a small project that you want to pave. You can also get creative and mix multiple products in the installation if you cannot find enough quantity of one material.