Unilock Arcana Paver Patio

This is the largest paver patio we've ever built — a 2,700-square-foot Unilock Arcana slab patio and pool deck wrapping a brand-new custom home in New Buffalo, Michigan. A space this size, built around a pool and designed to seat a crowd, is only as good as what's underneath it. So we built it the way a patio this important deserves to be built: slowly, correctly, and from the ground up.

What We Did

We paved the entire patio and pool deck in Unilock Arcana slabs in Modena, laid in a clean running-bond pattern using the large-format 18"x24" slab. Arcana is one of Unilock's most design-forward surfaces — its silky, matte, lightly speckled finish comes from fine-blasting the slab to expose the natural granite, quartz, and marble inside it. Just as importantly for a pool deck, it's a non-slip surface and comes factory-sealed with Unilock's EasyClean stain protection — so it holds up to wet feet, sunscreen, food, and drinks around an outdoor dining area without staining. It's a beautiful slab that's built to actually be used.

Around the pool step, we finished the edge with Unilock coping in Opal Blend — the chamfered coping originally sold as Beacon Hill and now known as Endura Coping — for a clean, comfortable, finished edge.

Underneath all of it is our 7-Layer Foundation System, and this is where a large-format slab patio is won or lost. Big slabs are far less forgiving than small pavers — any imperfection in the base telegraphs straight through to the surface. We built this one on a deep, compacted 8" open-graded stone base with 8oz non-woven geotextile fabric, engineered to drain freely and resist the frost heave that wrecks lesser installations through a Michigan winter.

That foundation is also why we didn't rush it. We began this project in late fall, and rather than force a job of this scale through freezing conditions, we paused for winter and resumed in spring. The upside: the compacted base sat through a full Michigan freeze-thaw cycle before a single slab was set — proving out its stability the hard way, on the real calendar, before the finished surface ever went down.

The result is a vast, level, low-maintenance outdoor living space built for big-group entertaining — room for a full dining table, loungers all the way around the pool, and years of summers to come. Rugged Luxury, at its largest scale: engineering-grade durability underneath, high-end design on top.

This patio is one part of a larger transformation at this New Buffalo property. View our showcase for more from this project, including the retaining and seating walls, drainage, and landscaping.

Project Scope:

• 2,700 SQ FT Arcana Slab Patio & Pool Deck: Our largest paver patio to date, in Unilock Arcana Modena.

• Large-Format Running Bond: 18"x24" slabs laid in a clean running-bond pattern.

• Non-Slip, Stain-Resistant Surface: Factory-sealed Arcana with EasyClean protection — ideal for a pool deck and outdoor dining.

• Unilock Coping in Opal Blend: Chamfered coping (formerly Beacon Hill, now Endura Coping) finishing the pool step.

• 7-Layer Foundation System: Compacted 8" open-graded stone base with 8oz non-woven geotextile fabric, engineered against frost heave.

• Built Right, Not Rushed: Started in late fall, paused for winter, and completed in spring — the base proven through a full freeze-thaw before paving.