Paver Calculator

Enter the size of your patio, walkway, or driveway and the paver you like, and get the number of pavers to buy with extra for cuts, base gravel in tons and loose cubic yards at the industry's minimum depth, bedding sand, polymeric sand bags, edge restraint, and how deep to dig.

Rectangle Circle

Length (ft)

Width (ft)

Paver size (the nominal size on the pallet tag)

Joint width (1/8 in is standard for concrete pavers)

Laying pattern (sets the extra for cuts)

Soil and climate (sets how deep the base goes)

Patio or walkway Driveway

Edge against the house or a curb (ft) (optional: that side needs no edge restraint and no extra base)

Polymeric sand coverage (sq ft per bag) (optional: from your bag's chart; blank uses the low end of a maker's chart)

Was this calculator helpful?

How the paver math works

A paver patio is three layers, and only one of them shows. At the bottom is a compacted base of crushed stone, the layer that decides whether the patio is still flat in ten years. On top of that goes a nominal 1 inch of loose concrete sand, screeded level, and then the pavers themselves, which for patios, walkways, and home driveways are 2 3/8 in (60 mm) thick. Those are the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute's construction guidelines, now published by the Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association, and every quantity on this page follows from them.

The paver count starts with a quirk of the trade: pavers are sold by nominal size. Belgard lists its Holland Stone as 4 x 8 x 2 3/8 in, and laid with the standard 1/8 in joint each one takes exactly 32 square inches of ground, which is 4.5 pavers per square foot. So for the sizes in the list we treat the nominal size as the paver plus its joint. Choose a wider joint and we add the difference; enter a custom size and we add your whole joint to the paver's actual measurements.

The formula

pavers = area × 144 ÷ (paver area with its joint, sq in) × (1 + waste), rounded up
base area = paver area + 6 in past every free edge
base tons = base area × (base depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27 × 3,700 ÷ 2,000
bedding sand = area × (1 ÷ 12) cu ft

Area is in square feet. The 144 turns square inches into square feet. Waste is the allowance for cut and broken pavers. Base depth is in inches, compacted, and dividing cubic feet by 27 gives cubic yards. The 3,700 is the weight in pounds of a cubic yard of crushed base course once it is compacted, from the Washington State DOT's estimating tables, and dividing by 2,000 gives tons.

Worked example

A 16 by 12 ft patio in 4 x 8 in pavers, 1/8 in joints, laid in running bond, on well-drained soil. The area is 192 sq ft with 56 ft of edge. At 4.5 pavers per square foot that is 864 pavers exactly, and 5% extra for cuts makes 907.2, so you buy 908 pavers.

The base is ICPI's 4 in minimum for a patio, and it runs 6 in past every edge, so it covers 17 by 13 ft, or 221 sq ft. That is 73.67 cu ft, or 2.73 cu yd compacted, which weighs 5.05 tons: order 5.1 tons, or 3.7 cu yd if your supplier sells by the yard. Add 0.59 cu yd of bedding sand (about 0.8 tons), 3 bags of polymeric sand, and 56 ft of edge restraint. You dig 4 + 1 + 2 3/8 = 7 3/8 in deep, which lifts out about 5.03 cu yd of soil as it sits in the ground.

Tons or yards: why the gravel pile is bigger than the hole

Crushed base stone is sold two ways, and they are not the same question. Loose, the way it comes off the quarry's scale, it weighs about 2,800 lb per cubic yard: that is the figure Luck Stone's own tonnage calculator uses, and Rogers Group orders at the same 1.4 tons. Compacted on the job, the same stone weighs 3,700 lb per cubic yard, the figure both the Washington and Wisconsin DOTs work with. Tons do not change when you run a plate compactor over them, so if you order by the ton and work out tons from the compacted volume, the compaction is already counted. Order by the yard and you need about a third more yards than the hole, a compaction factor of 1.32, because a loose yard packs down to about three quarters of a yard.

We should be honest about that third, because the published figures do not agree exactly. Washington State's DOT gives the same base course 2,950 lb per yard at truck measure, a settled load, which would make the factor only 1.25. A 2023 study for the Wisconsin DOT measured dense-graded base at 1.80 to 1.86 tons per compacted cubic yard, which brackets 1.85 nicely, and found it swelling by 34% to 47% between compacted and a loose stockpile. Our 1.32 sits between the settled truck and the fluffy stockpile, so if a supplier measures yards by the loader bucket, you may need a little more. It is the main reason to order base stone by the ton whenever you can. Our gravel calculator uses the same figures for road base, so the two pages give the same answer.

Bedding sand is different: it is screeded to a nominal inch and left loose until the pavers go down, so we weigh it as loose sand, 2,600 lb per cubic yard (Rogers Group's 1.3 tons), not as compacted fill.

How deep the base goes, and why driveways need more

ICPI's minimum is 4 in of compacted base for patios and walkways and 6 in for residential driveways, both on well-drained soil, and it asks for 2 to 4 in more in colder climates and on soil that stays wet or is weak. The same paver sits on top either way; what changes is how far a tire's load has to spread before it reaches the dirt. Belgard's installation guide sets 8 in as its minimum dig for a patio, which leaves room for a thicker base than the 7 3/8 in the layers strictly need, and the extra only ever helps.

Compaction matters as much as depth. ICPI has the base spread and compacted in lifts of 4 to 6 in with a 7,000 pound-force plate compactor, and thinner lifts with the lighter plates most rental shops carry, so a 6 in base usually goes down as two or three lifts rather than one. The base should also extend past the pavers: Belgard's guide over-digs at least 6 in beyond the edge, which is why the base on this page always covers more ground than the pavers do.

Joints, patterns, and the sand you sweep in

Concrete pavers are made to sit with a joint of 1/16 to 3/16 in, and most have small spacer bars cast on their sides to hold it. The joint looks like nothing, but it adds up: with 1/8 in joints, the gaps are 4.6% of a 4 x 8 patio's surface and only 1.0% of a patio in 24 x 24 slabs. That is why polymeric sand bags print coverage as a range (one maker's chart says 65 to 85 sq ft per 50 lb bag for narrow joints on 2 3/8 in pavers), and why small pavers sit at the low end of it. We use the low end unless you enter your own bag's figure, and fill to 1/8 in below the paver top, as the makers ask.

The cut allowance is our own editorial convention, not a published standard: 5% for straight patterns, 10% for 90 degree herringbone, and 15% for 45 degree herringbone or any diagonal layout, where every edge paver gets cut at an angle. Herringbone earns its extra cuts on a driveway, where ICPI recommends it for streets because the pavers lock together against starting, braking, and turning tires. Whatever you choose, buy every paver from the same production run, since color can shift between batches. If you are hauling away the soil you dig out, our dumpster size calculator takes it from there, and the square footage calculator handles odd-shaped areas.

Sources

Where the numbers on this page come from. We go to the body that publishes the figure, not to another calculator. See how we verify.

Tech Spec 2: Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements (2020), Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, now the Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association (copy hosted by member Orco Block). The base depths (4 in compacted minimum for patios and walkways, 6 in for residential driveways, both on well-drained soil, and 2 to 4 in more in cold climates or on wet or weak soil), the 1 in nominal uncompacted bedding sand, 2 3/8 in (60 mm) pavers, joints of 1/16 to 3/16 in, base lifts of 4 to 6 in with a 7,000 lbf plate compactor, compaction to 98% of standard Proctor density, and herringbone for street applications.
Quick Reference Guide: Standard Paver Installation Guide, Belgard. Over-excavate at least 6 in beyond the perimeter of the paver area (our base extension), excavate a minimum of 8 in below finished grade, 4 to 8 in of dense-graded base in 2 to 4 in lifts, joints nominally 1/8 in (our standard joint), a minimum 1 in vertical edge restraint, and fill joints with polymeric sand to within 1/8 in of the top.
Holland Stone, Belgard. An example of nominal sizing: the 60 mm Holland Stone is listed as 4 x 8 x 2 3/8 in, which is 32 sq in and 4.5 pavers per square foot at the standard joint.
Design Manual M 22-01.23, Chapter 620, Exhibit 620-1 (September 2024), Washington State Department of Transportation. Unit dry weights for crushed surfacing base course: 3,700 lb (1.85 tons) per cubic yard compacted on the roadway, our compacted base figure, and 2,950 lb at truck measure, a settled load, which we show as a cross-reference because it would put the compaction factor at 1.25. WSDOT notes these are dry weights, so wet stone weighs more.
Standard Specifications, Section 305: Dense-Graded Base, Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Section 305.4(2) converts completed in-place dense-graded base at 1.85 tons per cubic yard, the same 3,700 lb our gravel calculator uses.
Product calculator, Luck Stone. A quarry's own tonnage calculator uses 103.7 lb per cubic foot, 2,800 lb per cubic yard, our loose base figure, which gives a compaction factor of 3,700 / 2,800 = 1.32.
Construction Aggregates Calculator, Rogers Group. A quarry's order figures: 1.4 tons per cubic yard for crushed stone, matching Luck Stone, and 1.3 tons (2,600 lb) for sand, our loose bedding sand figure.
Weight-Volume Relationships and Conversion Factors for Soils and Aggregates of Wisconsin (WHRP G22-05, December 2023), Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Measured 1.80 to 1.86 tons per compacted cubic yard for 3/4 in dense-graded base, bracketing 1.85, and 34% to 47% swell from compacted to a loose stockpile, which is why our 1.32 compaction factor sits nearer the measured range than WSDOT's truck-measure 1.25.
Gator Supersand G2, Alliance Gator. Coverage per 50 lb bag on 2 3/8 in pavers: 65 to 85 sq ft for narrow joints (1/8 to 3/8 in) and 22 to 42 sq ft for wide joints (3/4 to 1 1/4 in). We use the low end of each; the joint widths in our list are the ones this chart covers.
RG+ Polymeric Sand technical data sheet, Techniseal. A second maker's range, 60 to 120 sq ft per 22.7 kg bag with narrow joints and 25 to 40 with wide ones, showing how much coverage depends on the paver and the product.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate how many pavers you need?

Multiply the area in square feet by the number of pavers per square foot, which is 144 divided by the paver's nominal size in square inches, then add extra for cuts and round up. A 16 by 12 ft patio is 192 sq ft; 4 x 8 in pavers run 4.5 per square foot, so 864 cover it exactly, and 5% extra for a straight pattern makes 908 to buy.

How many pavers are in a square foot?

At the standard 1/8 in joint: 4.5 pavers for 4 x 8 in, 4 for 6 x 6 in, 2.67 for 6 x 9 in, 1 for 12 x 12 in, 0.56 for 16 x 16 in, and 0.25 for a 24 x 24 in slab. Each is 144 divided by the nominal size in square inches, because manufacturers name pavers by the space they take with a standard joint.

How much base gravel do I need for pavers?

ICPI's guidelines call for at least 4 in of compacted crushed stone base under a patio or walkway and 6 in under a residential driveway, with 2 to 4 in more in cold climates or on wet or weak soil, extended 6 in past the edges. A 16 by 12 ft patio at 4 in needs 2.73 cubic yards compacted, about 5.05 tons, so order 5.1 tons.

How many tons of paver base are in a cubic yard?

About 1.85 tons per cubic yard once it is compacted, the figure the Washington and Wisconsin DOTs use, and about 1.4 tons per cubic yard loose, the way quarries such as Luck Stone and Rogers Group sell it. That gap, a compaction factor of 1.32, is why you need about a third more yards than the hole if you order by the yard, and why ordering by the ton is simpler: tons do not change when you compact them.

How much sand do I need under pavers?

A nominal 1 inch of loose concrete sand under the pavers, screeded level, which is 1 cubic foot for every 12 square feet. A 192 sq ft patio needs 16 cu ft, or 0.59 cubic yards, about 0.8 tons of loose sand. Use concrete sand: ICPI's guidelines say masonry sand, limestone screenings, and stone dust should not be used for bedding.

How many bags of polymeric sand do I need?

It depends on the joint width and the paver size. One maker's chart gives 65 to 85 sq ft per 50 lb bag for narrow joints on 2 3/8 in pavers and 22 to 42 sq ft for wide joints, and another gives 60 to 120 for narrow joints. Small pavers have far more joint per square foot, so they sit at the low end. At 65 sq ft per bag, a 192 sq ft patio needs 3 bags.

How deep do you dig for a paver patio?

Add the layers: 4 in of compacted base, 1 in of bedding sand, and a 2 3/8 in paver make 7 3/8 in below the finished surface for a patio on well-drained soil. A driveway's 6 in base makes 9 3/8 in, and colder or wetter ground adds 2 to 4 in more. Belgard's installation guide sets 8 in as its minimum dig, which leaves room for extra base.

Do pavers need edge restraints?

Yes, on every edge that is not held by something solid like a house wall or a concrete curb. Edge restraints keep the pavers from creeping apart and losing their interlock. Plastic, aluminum, steel, and concrete restraints all work, set on the compacted base with at least 1 in of vertical contact against the pavers.