We selected pavers because concrete patios always seem to eventually get a settling crack. At least with pavers any settling can be easily corrected.

We too live in the midwest and have found it necessary to lift a few pavers from time-to-time in the 10+ years since installing our patio. Relatively easy to do though and no regrets with our decision.

Thank you so much for your response. I did some checking on the web and found some good info. Exactly what you said about the cracking of the concrete and the ease of repair with the pavers.

One site said the price was about double for pavers yet another said that the two were about even. We are getting a bid on Monday. I like the look of the pavers much more than the concrete. I don't know the total square footage of the patio but the concrete bid is $3,200. I'm hoping that the pavers aren't too much more.

Ours is comfortably sized for group gatherings - 26 x 24 plus an area for a hot tub and a smaller one for grilling. It was DIY and took a summer of evenings and weekends to build. There are so many more colors and shapes of pavers available now compared to 10 years ago. I've seen some spectacular paver patios and walks.

As our site grade flows toward the patio, I incorporated french drains to direct water away. Also buried PVC below for electric and natural gas lines.

Here are a few photos, good luck with yours.

Here is a link that might be useful: Patio

lalaland4me,
So what did you decide to do? What was the bid for pavers?

I have a concrete patio that is cracked and somewhat settled so that in sinks in a bit. I had a bid for a 10x20 concrete patio with a walkway 4 ft by about 8ft. To remove the old patio and grade the area for drainage then put the new one in I was given an estimate of $2395 which is very reasonable. I just wondered if I could somehow repair the origional and add pavers and a firepit to it as a DYI project for less. The guy told me pavers are more expensive but I think I could do it myself with some prep-work...are they very hard to install?