Paver Calculator
This paver calculator tells you exactly how many pavers to buy, how much crushed-stone base to have delivered, and how much bedding sand you will need for a patio, walkway, or driveway. Punch in the patio length and width, your paver size, and a cutting-waste percentage, and it returns a paver count rounded up to the whole paver, plus base and sand volumes in cubic yards and cubic feet. The waste allowance defaults to 10 percent, which is about right for straight edges and a simple running-bond pattern, and you can raise it to 15 percent for curves or diagonal patterns. The base depth defaults to 4 inches of compacted crushed stone and the sand to 1 inch of coarse bedding sand, both adjustable for your soil and load. Getting the order right matters because pavers are sold by the pallet and bulk material by the yard. Come up short and you are paying a second delivery fee, usually $75 to $150, and gambling that the next batch matches the color of the first. Over-order badly and you have spent real money on pavers and stone that sit behind your garage forever.
How to use this calculator
- Measure the patio length and width in feet. For an irregular shape, measure the largest rectangle that covers it and accept that the waste allowance will absorb the offcuts.
- Enter the length and width of one paver in inches or centimetres. A standard Holland paver is 4 by 8 inches; Belgard and Unilock catalog pavers run larger, so measure an actual paver, not the catalog listing.
- Set the waste allowance. Use 10 percent for straight edges and running bond, 12 to 15 percent for curved edges or a diagonal layout, and 15 percent for herringbone, which eats cuts.
- Set the base depth. Four inches of compacted crushed stone is the standard for patios and walkways; driveways need six to eight inches.
- Set the bedding sand depth. One inch of coarse concrete sand is the standard screeded layer.
- Press Calculate. You get the paver count with waste already added, plus base and sand volumes in cubic feet and cubic yards, which is how bulk yards sell it.
- Read the breakdown and order by pallet for pavers and by the cubic yard for base and sand. Yards round up, so take the decimal seriously.
Formula
Worked example
Say you are building a 16 by 12 foot patio with 6 by 9 inch pavers and 10 percent waste. First the pavers. The patio is 192 square feet. One paver covers 9/12 times 6/12 feet, which is 0.375 square feet. 192 divided by 0.375 gives 512 pavers exactly, and 10 percent waste brings that to 563.2, rounded up to 564 pavers. That is roughly five pallets at a typical 108-paver pallet. Now the base. Four inches is one-third of a foot, so 192 square feet times one-third foot equals 64 cubic feet. Divide by 27 to get cubic yards: 64 / 27 = 2.37, so 2.37 cubic yards of crushed stone. Crushed stone weighs about 1.4 tons per yard, so 2.37 yards is about 3.3 tons; order 3.5 tons and you have margin. The sand layer is one inch, which is one-twelfth of a foot: 192 times 1/12 equals 16 cubic feet, and 16 / 27 = 0.59, so 0.59 cubic yards of coarse bedding sand. At a typical yard price of $40 to $60 per yard for base stone and $45 to $70 per yard for mason sand, the bulk material for this patio runs roughly $130 to $215 before the pavers themselves. One delivery, one batch of pavers, no second trip.
Measurement tips
- Order all your pavers from the same production batch. Pavers from different batches can be visibly different shades, and once they are down you cannot unsee it.
- Compact the base in 2-inch lifts with a plate compactor, not in one thick dump. A rented compactor costs about $60 to $80 a day at Home Depot and is the difference between a patio that stays flat and one that sinks.
- Put down landscape fabric under the base on clay soil. It is cheap insurance that stops the stone from sinking into the mud over the years.
- Slope the patio a quarter inch per foot away from the house. That is 2 inches over 8 feet, and it keeps rain from pooling at your foundation.
- Screed the sand dead level with a straight 2x4 riding on two screed rails. Every lump in the sand telegraphs straight through to the finished pavers.
- Install edge restraints before you lay a single paver. Plastic edge restraint with 10-inch spikes is about $1 per linear foot and stops the whole patio from creeping outward.
- Sweep polymeric sand into the joints and mist it, per the bag instructions. It locks the pavers together and stops weeds from moving in between.
- Buy a cheap wet saw or rent one for about $70 a day. A 4-inch angle grinder with a diamond blade works for small cuts, but the dust is brutal, so cut wet.
Common mistakes
- Laying pavers directly on dirt or bare sand with no crushed-stone base. It looks fine for a month. Then the first rainy season settles everything unevenly and you are re-laying the whole patio.
- Using fine play sand as bedding sand. Play sand shifts under load; coarse concrete sand is angular and locks together. Your patio can tell the difference even if your eyes cannot.
- Guessing the patio is a neat rectangle when it has curves. Curves multiply edge cuts, and the 10 percent default waste will not cover a free-form design. Bump it to 15.
- Ordering base stone in bags from the home center. You need yards, not bags. Bulk delivery at $40 to $60 a yard is a fraction of the bagged price, and bagged stone gets expensive around yard number two.
- Forgetting that pallets of pavers weigh close to 3,000 pounds. Tell the delivery driver where to drop it, because you are not moving it twice.
- Skipping the edge restraint to save twenty bucks. Within a season the outer row of pavers starts drifting and the whole border loosens. It is the cheapest material on the job and the most skipped.
Factors that affect accuracy
- Soil type. Sandy soil drains and compacts easily; clay holds water and heaves. On clay, add an inch or two to the base depth or put geotextile fabric under the stone.
- Load. Foot traffic and furniture do fine on 4 inches of base. A driveway with cars needs 6 to 8 inches of compacted base, which roughly doubles your stone volume.
- Pattern. Running bond wastes about 10 percent. Herringbone and diagonal layouts waste 15 percent or more because every edge cut produces a smaller scrap.
- Edge shape. Straight edges produce neat half-paver cuts you can reuse. Curves and circles produce wedge-shaped offcuts you cannot, so curved designs need the higher waste allowance.
- Paver size. Large-format pavers lay fast but cut awkwardly around curves, producing more waste per cut. Small pavers cut cleaner on curves but take longer to lay.
- Compaction. Base stone compacts to about 80 percent of its loose volume. Order by the compacted depth the calculator gives you, since bulk yards price loose yards and you will lose some to compaction.
Frequently asked questions
How many pavers do I need for a 16x12 patio?
With 6 by 9 inch pavers and 10 percent waste: 564 pavers. That is about five pallets at a typical 108 pavers per pallet. Add 2.37 cubic yards of crushed-stone base and 0.59 cubic yards of bedding sand.
How deep should the paver base be?
Four inches of compacted crushed stone for patios and walkways; six to eight inches for driveways. Compact it in 2-inch lifts with a plate compactor, because a thick layer dumped all at once never compacts evenly.
Can I lay pavers on sand without a stone base?
You can, and you will regret it. Sand alone shifts and settles, and within a season or two the patio goes lumpy. The compacted crushed-stone base is what keeps a paver patio flat for a decade.
What is the difference between bedding sand and polymeric sand?
Bedding sand is the 1-inch layer of coarse concrete sand screeded under the pavers for levelling. Polymeric sand is swept into the joints between the pavers after they are laid, then misted with water so it hardens and locks the pavers together.
Should I use 10 or 15 percent waste for pavers?
Use 10 percent for straight edges and a running-bond pattern. Use 15 percent for curves, diagonal layouts, or herringbone, which produce far more cut waste.
How much does a pallet of pavers cover?
A standard pallet of 4 by 8 inch Holland pavers covers about 108 to 120 square feet, depending on the manufacturer. Larger pavers cover more square footage per pallet. Check the coverage on the product tag rather than guessing.
What kind of gravel goes under pavers?
Crushed stone, often sold as 3/4-inch minus, crusher run, or 21AA, depending on your region. It has angular faces that interlock when compacted. Rounded pea gravel does not interlock and should never be your base layer.