🧱 Paver Calculator

How to Calculate How Many Pavers You Need

Pavers are priced by the square foot but ordered by the piece, so every estimate runs the same three steps: measure the area, add waste for cuts, then multiply by the number of pavers in a square foot.

Pavers per square foot comes straight from the face size: divide 144 by the paver's length in inches times its width in inches. A 4 × 8 in Holland paver is 32 square inches, and 144 ÷ 32 = 4.5 pavers per square foot. That single number does more work than anything else on this page.

Use the nominal size, not the measured size. A "4 × 8" paver actually measures closer to 3 7/8 × 7 7/8 inches. The missing eighth is the joint, and the nominal figure already accounts for it. Measuring the paver with a tape and dividing by that number over-orders by about 5%.

Buying a blended or multi-size kit? The pallet is sold by coverage in square feet, not by piece count — order the square footage including waste and ignore the piece math entirely.

Measuring an odd shape first? Break it into rectangles with our square footage calculator and add them together.

Base Depth: The Number That Decides Whether It Lasts

The base is the patio. Pavers are just the wearing surface — everything about whether the finished job stays flat is decided under it. The base course is compacted crushed stone with fines in it (crusher run, #411, quarry process, ABC — the name changes by region), not washed drainage stone like #57, which never locks together.

Total excavation depth is base + 1 in of bedding sand + the paver thickness. Get that number before you rent the excavator, because digging deeper later means re-doing the whole cut.

Two things that change the depth

• Clay subgrade. Clay holds water and moves. Add 2 inches to any figure above, and put a woven geotextile between the soil and the stone so the base cannot pump down into the mud.
• Freeze-thaw. In frost country the base is what keeps water from ponding and lifting the slab. Deeper base, and drainage that actually leaves the site — not just a hole full of stone.

Ordering base stone

Crusher run loses roughly 20 to 25% of its volume when compacted, so the calculator adds a 25% allowance and converts at 1.4 tons per loose cubic yard. A compacted 4-inch base under a 192 sq ft patio is 2.4 cubic yards in place, which means ordering about 3 cubic yards or 4.1 tons.

The 324 divisor does the volume work: (square feet × depth in inches) ÷ 324 = cubic yards. It comes from 27 cubic feet in a yard times 12 inches in a foot. Our gravel calculator has the full grade-by-grade breakdown if you are buying base stone for more than this one job.

Bedding Sand: One Inch, Screeded, Never Thicker

This is the single most common failure on a DIY paver patio, and it is worth being blunt about: the sand bed is 1 inch and only 1 inch. Not two, not three, and never "however much it takes to level things out."

Sand does not compact into a structural layer. It behaves like a fluid under load. A 1-inch layer has nowhere to go, so it holds. A 3-inch layer migrates sideways under wheel and foot loads, and the pavers above it sink in exactly the pattern of the traffic. Every rutted, wavy paver patio you have ever seen was bedded on too much sand.

Use concrete sand (ASTM C33) — coarse, washed, sharp-edged. Do not use mason sand, which is too fine and stays soft, and do not use play sand, which is fine, round and washed of everything that gives it grip. Our sand calculator covers the differences between the types in detail.

How to get it flat

1. Compact the base first, in lifts. Three to four inches at a time, water it lightly, run the plate compactor until the stone stops moving. A 6-inch base is two lifts, not one.
2. Check the base for flatness, not the sand. If the base has a low spot, fix it with more stone and re-compact. Sand is not a levelling compound.
3. Lay 1-inch screed rails — 1 in EMT conduit or purpose-made screed pipe — on the compacted base, set to the finished slope.
4. Pull a straight board across the rails to strike the sand off level with them.
5. Lift the rails and fill the grooves with sand, smoothing by hand.
6. Do not compact the sand and do not walk on it. Screed it, lay pavers straight onto it, and work off the pavers you have already set.
7. Compact after the pavers are down, with a rubber pad or a layer of joint sand on the plate to avoid chipping faces. That pass beds the pavers about 1/8 to 1/4 in into the sand — which is why the screed sits slightly proud of finished height.

Slope before anything else. A paver surface needs at least 1/8 inch of fall per foot away from the house, and 1/4 inch per foot is better. Build the slope into the subgrade and carry it through the base and the sand — never try to create it in the bedding layer.

Joint Sand, Edging and the Rest of the Order

Pavers are usually about 70% of the material bill. These are the items that get forgotten at the yard and then hold the job up for a day.

Polymeric joint sand

Polymeric sand is graded sand with a binder that sets when watered, locking the joints, shedding water and keeping weeds and ants out. Coverage depends almost entirely on joint width, and the spread between narrow and wide joints is enormous.

Joint depth matters as much as width — the joint should be filled to within about 1/8 in of the surface, and a 3 1/8 in driveway paver holds far more sand than a 2 3/8 in patio paver at the same joint width. The figures on the bag are the ones to trust; the calculator uses the middle of each band above.

Polymeric sand is unforgiving about two things. The pavers must be bone dry when you sweep it in, and every grain must be blown off the faces before you water — a haze of set polymer on the surface does not come off. Water it in the exact stages the bag describes, and do not do it with rain forecast in the next 24 hours.

Edge restraint

Edge restraint is not optional. Without it the perimeter pavers walk outward, the joints open, and the field loses its interlock from the edge inward. Plastic paver edging comes in 8 ft straight sections and 6 ft flexible sections for curves, spiked with 10 or 12 in galvanised spikes.

• Measure only the free edges. A perimeter against the house, a retaining wall or an existing slab needs nothing.
• Spike every 12 inches on straight runs, and every 6 inches on curves and at every corner.
• The base must extend past the pavers — 6 to 12 inches beyond the finished edge — because the edging spikes into the base, not into soil.
• Concrete or timber edging works too, but a wet-set concrete toe is the only edge that reliably survives a driveway.

Setting the patio against a fence line? Our fence calculator handles post spacing, and the concrete calculator covers a poured edge or landing.

Patterns, Waste and What Each One Costs You

Waste is not padding. It is the material that leaves the site as offcuts, and the pattern you choose sets it before the first paver is laid.

45-degree herringbone is the right answer for a driveway, and it is worth the extra cutting. Interlock in a paved surface comes from load being transferred sideways through the joints, and herringbone is the only common pattern where no continuous joint line runs in the direction of traffic. Running bond under vehicles creeps; herringbone does not.

Two rules that override the table: long narrow shapes need more waste than square ones because there is more perimeter per square foot, and order every paver in one delivery. Concrete pavers are batch-dyed and a pallet bought a month later is often visibly off-colour, with no way to fix it once laid.

What it costs

The honest DIY figure for a mid-range patio is $8 to $14 per square foot in materials once base, sand, edging and rental are counted — usually about double what people budget after pricing only the pavers.

Building It: Order of Operations and What Goes Wrong

1. Call 811 before you dig. Free, and required. Utility locates take a couple of days, so start here.
2. Lay out the shape and mark the excavation 6–12 in wider than the finished patio on every free edge, so the edging has base to spike into.
3. Set your slope with string lines — 1/8 to 1/4 in per foot, always away from the house — before you cut a single spade.
4. Excavate to full depth (base + 1 in sand + paver thickness) and compact the subgrade itself. Stockpile the topsoil rather than paying to haul it — a 200 sq ft patio yields several cubic yards of it, and our topsoil calculator tells you what that is worth spread on the beds.
5. Lay geotextile fabric over the subgrade on clay or soft soil, lapping seams 12 in.
6. Place the base in 3–4 in lifts, lightly damp, compacting each lift until the plate stops sinking. Check slope on every lift, not just the last one.
7. Screed 1 in of concrete sand off rails set to the finished slope. Do not compact it, do not walk on it.
8. Lay pavers from a fixed straight edge — the house wall or a string line — working forward off the laid surface. Set them straight down, never slid into place, or you plough sand into the joints.
9. Cut the perimeter last, all in one session, with a diamond blade. No cut piece should be smaller than about a third of a paver.
10. Install edge restraint tight against the pavers and spike it off.
11. Sweep in polymeric sand, blow the faces clean, compact, top up the joints, then water in the stages the bag specifies.

Mistakes to Avoid

• A thick sand bed instead of a deep base. The number one cause of a sunken, wavy patio. One inch of sand, always.
• Washed stone as base. #57 is a drainage stone with the fines screened out; it cannot compact. Use crusher run.
• Compacting the base in one thick lift. The bottom half stays loose regardless of how long the compactor runs.
• No slope, or slope toward the house. Check it with a level and a long board, not by eye.
• Skipping edge restraint to save $150 on a $3,000 patio, then watching the edges spread within two seasons.
• Not extending the base past the pavers. Edging spiked into soil pulls out.
• Ordering exactly what the math says. Breakage, a bad cut and one wrong-colour pallet all cost more than the extra 5%.
• Polymeric sand on damp pavers or with rain coming. It sets as a haze on the surface and stays there.

Doing a driveway rather than a patio? Compare the build against a gravel driveway or a poured concrete driveway before committing — the base work is similar but the surface cost is not.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pavers do I need per square foot?

Divide 144 by the paver’s length in inches times its width in inches. A 4 × 8 in paver is 32 square inches, so 4.5 pavers per square foot. A 6 × 6 is 4.0, an 8 × 8 is 2.25, and a 12 × 12 is exactly 1.0. Use the nominal size — the joint is already allowed for.

How deep should a paver base be?

4 to 6 inches of compacted crushed stone for foot traffic — patios, walkways, pool decks — and 8 to 12 inches for anything vehicles drive on. Add about 2 inches over clay soil or in a freeze-thaw climate. The base must be compacted in 3 to 4 inch lifts; one thick lift leaves the bottom loose.

How much sand do I need under pavers?

Exactly 1 inch, screeded flat. That is area divided by 324 in cubic yards — a 200 sq ft patio needs about 0.62 cubic yards, or roughly 0.8 tons of concrete sand. Never use more sand to make up for an uneven base; fix the base instead.

Why can the sand bed only be one inch thick?

Because sand does not compact into a structural layer — under load it moves sideways. One inch has nowhere to go. Two or three inches migrates, and the pavers above it sink in the exact pattern of the traffic. A thick sand bed is the most common cause of a wavy, sunken paver patio. Depth belongs in the base, not the bedding.

What kind of sand goes under pavers?

Concrete sand, ASTM C33 — coarse, washed and sharp-edged so the grains lock. Do not use mason sand, which is too fine and stays soft under load, and definitely not play sand, which is fine and round. Some contractors use #8 or #9 washed chip stone instead for open-graded permeable builds.

Can I use sand instead of gravel for a paver base?

No. Sand has no load-bearing capacity — it is a levelling layer, not a base. A patio built on 4 inches of sand will rut and settle within a season. The base has to be angular crushed stone with fines (crusher run, #411, quarry process) compacted in lifts, with just the 1-inch sand bed on top.

Should I use washed stone or crusher run for a paver base?

Crusher run — crushed stone that still contains its fines and stone dust, sold as #411, quarry process, or ABC depending on your region. The fines fill the voids so the material compacts into a hard layer. Washed stone like #57 has the fines screened out and never locks together; it is a drainage stone, not a base.

How much polymeric sand do I need?

A 50 lb bag covers roughly 80 to 100 sq ft at 1/8 in joints, 60 to 80 sq ft at 1/4 in, 40 to 55 sq ft at 3/8 in, and only 20 to 30 sq ft on flagstone with joints of 1/2 in or wider. Thicker pavers hold more sand at the same joint width, so driveway pavers use more than patio pavers.

Do I need edge restraint for a paver patio?

Yes, on every free edge. Without it the perimeter pavers walk outward, joints open, and the field loses interlock from the edge inward. Plastic edging comes in 8 ft straight sections spiked every 12 inches, or every 6 inches on curves. The base must extend 6 to 12 inches past the pavers so the spikes go into stone, not soil.

How much extra should I order for cuts and breakage?

5% for running bond or basketweave, 8% for 90-degree herringbone, 10% for 45-degree herringbone or a diagonal lay, and 15% for circle kits and curved edges. Long narrow shapes need more than square ones. Order it all in one delivery — pavers are batch-dyed and a later pallet often does not match.

How deep do I need to excavate for a paver patio?

Base depth plus 1 inch of sand plus the paver thickness. For a standard patio that is 4 in base + 1 in sand + 2 3/8 in paver = about 7 3/8 inches. A driveway with a 10 in base and 3 1/8 in pavers needs about 14 inches. Dig 6 to 12 inches wider than the finished edge too.

What slope does a paver patio need?

A minimum of 1/8 inch of fall per foot, and 1/4 inch per foot is better — always away from the house. Over 12 feet that is 1.5 to 3 inches of drop. Build the slope into the subgrade and carry it through the base and the screed rails. Never try to create slope in the sand bed.

Do I compact the bedding sand before laying pavers?

No. Screed it, then lay pavers straight onto the loose sand, working off the surface you have already laid. Compaction happens after the pavers are down, with a rubber pad or a layer of joint sand on the plate. That pass beds the pavers about 1/8 to 1/4 inch, which is why the screed should sit slightly proud of finished height.

How many pavers are on a pallet?

For 4 × 8 in Holland pavers, a pallet is typically 105 to 120 square feet, which is roughly 480 to 540 pieces, weighing 3,000 to 4,000 lb. Counts vary by manufacturer and by paver thickness, so buy by square footage and let the yard work out the pallets. Plan for delivery placement — a loaded pallet needs a forklift or a boom truck.