Paver calculator

Enter the shape and the paver size. We count the pavers with extra for your pattern, then the gravel base, the bedding sand, the edge restraint and the polymeric sand.

Your patio is 192 sq ft. Buy 520 pavers (495 to cover it plus 5% for cuts), about 2.6 cu yd (3.7 tons) of gravel base, 0.7 cu yd (0.9 tons) of bedding sand, 56 ft of edge restraint and 4 bags of polymeric sand.

Pavers per square foot: 2.58 at 9 x 6 in with a 1/8 in joint
Gravel base, 4 in: 2.6 cu yd, 3.7 tons at 1.4 tons per cu yd
Bedding sand, 1 in: 0.7 cu yd, 0.9 tons at 1.35 tons per cu yd
Edge restraint: 56 ft: 6 lengths of 10 ft and 56 spikes
Polymeric sand: 4 bags of 50 lb

Gravel and sand include 10% over the compacted volume. Weights are typical; ask your yard for the weight of what you order.

Rather build a low deck? See ground-level deck plans

A paver patio and a ground-level deck do the same job. A deck costs more per square foot, but it needs no heavy base work and you can build it over a slope.

Planning figures for a patio on foot traffic, not an engineer's design. Follow your paver maker's installation guide, and check local rules and utility lines before you dig.

How the paver calculator works

The paver calculator turns the shape of your patio into square feet, then into everything that goes in and under it. It counts the pavers, the gravel base, the bedding sand, the edge restraint and the polymeric sand for the joints. For the 12 by 16 ft example above, 192 sq ft in 6 by 9 in pavers needs 520 pavers, 2.6 cubic yards of gravel, 0.7 cubic yards of sand, 56 ft of edge restraint and 4 bags of polymeric sand.

Area from the shape

A rectangle is width times length. An L-shape is the overall rectangle minus the corner that is missing. A circle is pi times the radius squared. For a patio of mixed shapes, add the areas of the parts, or run the calculator once for each part.

How many pavers per square foot

The count is the area divided by the footprint of one paver plus its joint, rounded up. A 4 by 8 in brick paver is 4.30 per square foot, a 6 by 9 in paver is 2.58, and a 12 by 12 in paver is 0.98. Change the joint width if your pavers have wider spacer lugs.

How much extra to buy for cuts

Every edge and curve needs cut pavers, and some break. A running bond, stack bond or basket weave wastes about 5%. A herringbone wastes about 10% and about 15% when laid at 45 degrees. Small patios with many corners and curves sit at the high end. These allowances are installers' rules of thumb, not a standard.

The base under the pavers

Gravel base depth

The base spreads the load and drains the water. Dig out the base depth plus the bedding sand plus the thickness of the paver, and compact the gravel in lifts of about 4 in. The calculator starts at 4 in. Go to 6 in or more on clay, soft ground or where the patio takes a wheelbarrow of weight. Dig the base wider than the patio, about 6 in past the edge restraint.

Bedding sand

Screed 1 in of coarse concrete sand over the compacted gravel and set the pavers on it. The calculator adds 10% to the gravel and the sand for compaction and loss.

Cubic yards to tons

Yards sell by the cubic yard or by the ton. We use 1.4 tons per cubic yard for gravel and 1.35 for sand. Your yard knows the weight of what it sells, so ask before you order.

Edge restraint and polymeric sand

Edge restraint

Edge restraint keeps the outer pavers from creeping out. It goes on every free edge, in 10 ft lengths with a spike about every 12 in, and it is not needed where the pavers butt against the house or a slab. Enter that length above and it is taken off.

Polymeric sand

Polymeric sand locks the joints and holds back weeds. A bag covers more of a patio of large pavers than one of small pavers, because there are fewer joints. Sweep it into dry joints, remove the dust from the faces, and mist it as the label says.

Pavers or something else?

Pavers are easy to repair and drain well, but they need base work. If you only need a surface, a concrete slab is quicker to pour. If your site slopes, a low deck skips the digging: see the ground-level deck plans or size one with the deck calculator.

Where the numbers come from

The bedding sand depth is from the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute Construction Tolerance Guide (February 2020): a 1 in nominal bedding layer of ASTM C33 concrete sand. The same guide lists a 6 in base for a residential driveway and 8 in for a parking area; it gives no figure for a patio, so the 4 in base on this page is our own editorial choice, the usual figure for foot traffic on firm soil. Use 6 in or more on clay or soft ground, and check your paver maker's guide.

The pattern allowances, the joint width, the weights of 1.4 tons per cubic yard for gravel and 1.35 for sand, and the 10% ordering allowance are editorial. Polymeric sand coverage varies by product and joint width, so we start at 50 sq ft per 50 lb bag and you should enter the coverage printed on your bag.

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Questions

Anything else? Write to us or see every calculator.

Questions people ask

Multiply length by width to get square feet, divide by the square feet one paver covers including its joint, then add extra for cuts. A 12 by 16 ft patio of 6 by 9 in pavers is 192 sq ft and needs 495 pavers, or 520 with 5% extra for a running bond.

A standard 4 by 8 in brick paver with a 1/8 in joint takes 4.30 pavers per square foot, or about 430 per 100 sq ft before cuts. Without any joint it is 4.5. Larger pavers need fewer: 12 by 12 in is 0.98 per square foot.

Multiply the patio area by the sand depth in feet and divide by 27 for cubic yards. A 1 in bed under a 144 sq ft patio is 0.5 cubic yards with 10% extra, about 0.7 tons. Polymeric sand for the joints is bought separately by the bag.

Yes, usually. The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute names 1 in of bedding sand, and a thick bed settles unevenly under the pavers. Two inches on the same 144 sq ft patio doubles the sand to 1.0 cubic yards. Fix a low spot in the gravel base, not with more sand.

Plan on 10% for a herringbone laid square to the edges and 15% when it runs at 45 degrees, against 5% for a running bond. On the 12 by 16 ft example that is 545 pavers in herringbone against 520 in a running bond. Leftover pavers also cover a future repair.