Paver Calculator
Estimates only. Confirm the pavers per ft² or pallet coverage on your supplier's label, and the base depth for your soil, before ordering.
A 4 × 8 paver covers 0.22 square feet, so you need 4.5 pavers per square foot, or 450 per 100 sq ft before waste. A 12 × 10 ft patio takes 540 pavers, or 594 with 10% for cuts, plus about 2.6 tons of base gravel, half a ton of bedding sand, and three 50 lb bags of polymeric sand. Enter your area, paver size, and layout below for the full shopping list.
Pavers per 100 square feet by size
| Paver size | Per ft² | Per 100 ft² | +10% straight | +20% herringbone | Joint sand / 100 ft² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 8 in | 4.5 | 450 | 495 | 540 | 94 lb |
| 6 × 6 in | 4 | 400 | 440 | 480 | 84 lb |
| 6 × 9 in | 2.67 | 267 | 294 | 320 | 70 lb |
| 8 × 8 in | 2.25 | 225 | 248 | 270 | 63 lb |
| 12 × 12 in | 1 | 100 | 110 | 120 | 42 lb |
| 12 × 18 in | 0.67 | 67 | 74 | 80 | 35 lb |
| 16 × 16 in | 0.56 | 57 | 62 | 68 | 32 lb |
| 24 × 24 in | 0.25 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 21 lb |
How to calculate pavers
Pavers are counted by area. Divide the square footage of the patio by the face area of one paver, or use the shortcut this calculator runs: pavers per square foot = 144 ÷ (width × length in inches). A 4 × 8 paver is 32 square inches, so 144 ÷ 32 gives 4.5 pavers per square foot. A 6 × 6 gives 4, a 12 × 12 gives exactly 1. Multiply by your area, then add the waste allowance and round up to whole pavers.
Enter the nominal size printed on the pallet, not a tape measurement of one paver. US pavers are sold by nominal size: a "4 × 8" is about 100 × 200 mm, and its spacer nibs bring the laid module back to roughly 4 × 8 inches. Coverage tables are built the same way, so the count matches what the supplier quotes.
Worked example: a 12 × 10 ft patio
The area is 120 square feet. At 4.5 pavers per square foot that is 540 pavers; add 10% for a straight or running-bond layout and you buy 594. Switch to a 45° herringbone and the 20% allowance raises it to 648. Under the pavers, a 4-inch base needs about 1.7 cubic yards, or 2.6 tons, of crusher run with the compaction allowance. The 1-inch sand bed takes about half a ton of concrete sand (21 bags of 50 lb), and the joints take three 50 lb bags of polymeric sand. The perimeter needs 44 feet of edge restraint, and you dig about 7⅜ inches below finished grade.
Interlocking and multi-piece pavers
Shaped pavers (I-shapes, unipavers, and other interlocking units) don't have a simple width × length, so the face-size formula miscounts them. Use the pavers-per-square-foot figure on the manufacturer's spec sheet instead: enter it in the optional field and it overrides the geometry. Multi-piece patterns are usually sold as a blended pallet by the square foot, so for those, enter the pallet's coverage and order whole pallets.
What goes under the pavers
A paver patio is a layered system, and the layers you can't see are where most of the material and most of the failures are. The industry minimums are below. Thicker is fine; thinner is not.
| Layer | Patio / walkway | Residential driveway | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pavers | 2⅜" (60 mm) | 2⅜" (60 mm) | Concrete pavers; 3⅛" (80 mm) for streets and parking |
| Bedding | 1" | 1" | Concrete sand (ASTM C33), screeded, not compacted |
| Base | 4" | 6" | Dense-graded aggregate, compacted to 98% standard Proctor |
| Joints | Filled to the full paver depth | Polymeric or ASTM C144 joint sand | |
Paver base: how much gravel you need
The base carries the load, so it is the layer to over-build, not under-build. Use a dense-graded aggregate (crusher run, road base, or QP) whose fines lock up when compacted. Clean stone like #57 won't compact into a solid base under standard pavers. Base depth here means the compacted depth: loose stone settles as it's compacted, so the calculator adds a 15% allowance by default. Raise it if your supplier's material is particularly loose. On clay, on poorly drained ground, or where the ground freezes, go deeper than the minimum. Clay doesn't drain and frost heaves a thin base, which is why manufacturers give a range rather than a single depth. The gravel calculator prices the same stone by the truckload.
Paver sand: the 1-inch bedding layer
The bedding layer is a uniform inch of coarse concrete sand, screeded flat and left uncompacted until the pavers go on and are compacted into it. Keep it at an inch: fix low spots in the base with more base, not extra sand, because thick sand pockets compress unevenly and become dips. Bedding sand is bought by the ton in bulk or in 50 lb bags; the sand calculator converts it for any sand type.
Polymeric sand: how many bags you need
Joint sand fills the gaps between pavers and locks them together. This calculator works out the joint volume from the paver size, joint width, and thickness, so smaller pavers, which have more joint per square foot, need more sand. At 1/8-inch joints, a 4 × 8 paver uses about 94 lb per 100 square feet; at 3/16 inch it is about 140 lb. That is roughly 35–55 square feet per 50 lb bag, in line with the 25–50 square feet per bag commonly quoted for polymeric sand. Polymeric products vary, so check the coverage chart on the bag for your joint width.
Edge restraint and dig depth
Every edge that isn't held by a wall, foundation, or existing slab needs a restraint, or the outer pavers creep and the joints open. Plastic or aluminum edging is standard for patios and walks, and vehicular areas need a rigid concrete edge. The calculator totals the perimeter of a rectangle; subtract any side that runs against the house or another hard edge. To set the dig depth, add the base, the inch of sand, and the paver thickness: about 7⅜ inches for a patio and 9⅜ inches for a driveway, before any extra depth for poor soil.
Paver patio cost per square foot
Enter prices in the calculator and it totals every line you priced (pavers, base gravel, bedding sand, and polymeric sand) and divides by the area to give a materials cost per square foot. That is the DIY number. A contractor quote adds labor, excavation, and hauling away the dug-out soil, which is why installed prices run several times the material cost.
| Item | Cost per sq ft |
|---|---|
| Concrete pavers (material) | $4–$6 |
| Brick pavers (material) | $4–$8 |
| Natural stone pavers (material) | $7–$16 |
| Installation labor | $5–$15 |
| Installed paver patio, total | $8–$24 |
The dig-out line in the calculator shows how much soil the excavation removes. A 12 × 10 ft patio dug 7⅜ inches deep removes about 2.7 cubic yards, measured in the ground. Price its disposal before you start, because the base, sand, and pavers are only part of a DIY budget.
Paver types and projects
- Concrete pavers. The default and what the presets assume: 2⅜-inch units with built-in spacer nibs, laid on sand over a compacted base. Most US sizes are in the dropdown.
- Driveways. The same layers built heavier: at least 6 inches of base, interlocking or herringbone layouts to resist turning tires, and a concrete edge restraint. Pick the Driveway preset and a 45° herringbone to see both the extra base and the extra cut waste.
- Clay brick pavers. Sold by the brick, often without spacer nibs, so the joints are tighter. Check the exact face size on the pallet and set a narrow joint width; the sand bed and base are built the same way.
- Large-format slabs and porcelain. Bigger units (16 × 16 inches and up) mean far fewer pieces and less joint sand, but every cut wastes more material, so lean toward the higher waste figure. Thin porcelain set on pedestals skips the sand bed entirely, so ignore the bedding and joint lines for that method.
- Permeable pavers. These use a different system: open-graded stone base and bedding with no fine sand, so water drains through. The paver count here still applies, but size the stone layers with the gravel calculator using clean #57 stone rather than this calculator's base and sand lines.
Common mistakes
- Ordering pavers at the bare square footage. Every edge needs cut pieces, and some pavers arrive chipped. Order the overage in one delivery, because a second order can come from a different production run with a visible color shift.
- Under-building the base. Skimping on the base is the most common cause of sunken, rutted pavers. The pavers only spread the load; the compacted base carries it.
- Using sand to level the base. A bedding layer that runs from half an inch to three inches will settle unevenly. Get the base flat and at grade, then screed a uniform inch of sand on top.
- Measuring base depth loose. Four inches of loose stone compacts to well under four inches. Spread and compact in lifts, and check the depth after compaction.
- Forgetting the edges and joints. Edge restraint and joint sand are small line items that are easy to leave off an order, and pavers without them shift within a season.
What this calculator can't handle
- Curves and irregular shapes. Split the area into rectangles, or measure the total area and use the Total area option. Curved edges are cut-heavy, so add 5% more waste than the pattern default.
- Borders and soldier courses. A border row is a different paver count from the field. Run the border separately as its own area (edge length × border width), then subtract it from the field area.
- Slopes and steps. Measure along the paved surface, not the flat plan, and work out steps and retaining walls separately.
- Over an existing slab. Pavers overlaid on sound concrete skip the aggregate base, so set the base depth to zero and confirm the bedding method with the manufacturer.
- Your site's soil and frost depth. The presets are minimums for well-drained ground. Clay, wet sites, and cold climates need a deeper base that only a site check can set.
About these figures: base and bedding depths, paver thickness, compaction, and edge-restraint rules follow Belgard's Technical Resource Guide and installation guidelines, which follow ICPI construction tolerances. Paver coverage per square foot and the pattern waste allowances follow Inch Calculator's published paver table, and cost ranges come from Lawn Love's paver patio cost guide. No standards body publishes waste factors, so treat them as rules of thumb and adjust them to your installer's quote. Base and sand weights use the same densities as our gravel and sand calculators.
Frequently asked questions
How many pavers do I need per square foot?
Divide 144 by the paver's width × length in inches. That gives 4.5 per square foot for 4 × 8 pavers, 4 for 6 × 6, 2.67 for 6 × 9, 2.25 for 8 × 8, and exactly 1 for 12 × 12. Multiply by your area, then add 10% for a straight layout or 20% for herringbone. For interlocking shapes, use the pavers-per-square-foot figure on the manufacturer's spec sheet instead.
How many pavers do I need for a 10 × 10 patio?
A 10 × 10 patio is 100 square feet, so it needs 450 pavers in 4 × 8, or 495 with 10% waste for a straight or running-bond layout. In 6 × 6 pavers it's 400, or 440 with waste; in 12 × 12 it's 100, or 110. A 45° herringbone raises each figure by another 10% for the extra edge cuts.
How much base gravel do I need under pavers?
Lay at least 4 inches of compacted base for a patio or walkway and at least 6 inches for a residential driveway. For a 12 × 10 ft patio, a 4-inch base is about 1.7 cubic yards, or 2.6 tons, of crusher run once you add 15% for compaction. Use a dense-graded aggregate that locks up when compacted, and go deeper on clay soil or in freezing climates.
How much sand do I need for pavers?
Plan on a 1-inch layer of bedding sand, which is about 0.31 cubic yards, or 864 lb of concrete sand, per 100 square feet. That's eighteen 50 lb bags per 100 square feet. Joint sand is separate and much smaller: roughly 94 lb per 100 square feet for 4 × 8 pavers with 1/8-inch joints.
How many bags of polymeric sand do I need?
A 50 lb bag of polymeric sand covers roughly 25–50 square feet, depending on the paver size and joint width. Small pavers and wide joints use more sand per square foot. For a 12 × 10 ft patio in 4 × 8 pavers with 1/8-inch joints, the joints hold about 113 lb, which is three bags. Check the coverage chart on the bag, since products vary.
How deep do I dig for a paver patio?
Dig to the base depth plus 1 inch of sand plus the paver thickness. For a patio that's 4 + 1 + 2⅜, about 7⅜ inches below finished grade; for a driveway with a 6-inch base it's about 9⅜ inches. Dig deeper on clay or in frost-prone ground, where a thicker base is needed.
How many extra pavers should I buy?
Buy about 10% extra for a straight or running-bond layout and about 20% for a 45° herringbone, diagonal, or multi-piece pattern. The extra covers edge cuts and pavers that arrive chipped. Order it all in one delivery, because a later order can come from a different production run with a slightly different color.
How much does a paver patio cost per square foot?
An installed paver patio typically costs $8 to $24 per square foot, according to Lawn Love's 2026 cost guide. The pavers themselves run about $4 to $6 per square foot for concrete, $4 to $8 for brick, and $7 to $16 for natural stone, and installation labor adds $5 to $15. Enter your local prices in the calculator to get your own materials cost per square foot.
What thickness of paver do I need for a driveway?
Use pavers at least 2⅜ inches (60 mm) thick for a residential driveway, the same minimum as a patio, laid over at least 6 inches of compacted base. Streets and parking lots step up to 3⅛-inch (80 mm) pavers. Interlocking shapes and herringbone layouts also hold up better under turning tires.
Can I lay pavers directly on dirt or just sand?
No. Pavers on bare soil or a sand bed alone will sink and shift, because sand can't carry the load. Pavers need a compacted aggregate base, at least 4 inches for foot traffic, with the 1-inch sand layer only as a setting bed on top.
How do I calculate pavers for a curved or irregular area?
Split the area into rectangles, or measure the total square footage and enter it with the Total area option. Add the edge length if you want the edge restraint total. Curved edges need many cut pieces, so add about 5% more waste than the pattern default.
Related calculators
Sources
- Technical Resource GuideBelgardIndustry minimums: 4 in. base for sidewalks and patios, 6 in. for residential driveways, compaction to 98% standard Proctor, 1 in. nominal bedding of ASTM C33 sand, 2⅜ in. pavers for pedestrian areas and driveways, ASTM C144 joint sand, and rigid edges for vehicular areas.
- Paver and Wall Installation GuidelinesBelgardCompacted granular base of 4–6 inches depending on soil and use, and bedding sand at least 1 inch deep.
- Paver Calculator and Price EstimatorInch CalculatorPavers per 100 sq ft by size (4 × 8 = 450), 10% waste for straight layouts and 20% for diagonal and multi-piece patterns, and 25–50 sq ft per 50 lb bag of polymeric sand.
- How Much Does a Paver Patio Cost in 2026?Lawn LoveInstalled paver patios at $8–$24 per sq ft; paver material at $4–$6 (concrete), $4–$8 (brick), and $7–$16 (natural stone) per sq ft; installation labor at $5–$15 per sq ft. Updated December 27, 2025.