Paver Calculator
This paver calculator answers “how many pavers do I need” for a patio, walkway, or driveway, working in feet or meters. Pick a standard size — 4×8, 6×6, 6×9, 12×12, 16×16, or Holland — or enter a custom one, and it returns the paver count with a 7% cutting allowance, plus the gravel base, bedding sand, and polymeric sand to set them properly.
Pavers needed
320pavers
- With 7% waste — buy343 pavers
- Gravel base, 6″ (15 cm) deep2.22 yd³
- Bedding sand, 1″ (2.5 cm) deep0.37 yd³
- Polymeric sand (≈ 75 sq ft per bag)2 × 50 lb bags
Formulas last reviewed on .
How the paver count is calculated
Everything happens in square inches, because that’s how paver faces are sized:
base or sand yd³ = sq ft × depth in ÷ 324
Your patio’s square footage is multiplied by 144 to get square inches, then divided by the face area of one paver — 54 in² for a 6×9, for example. Multiplying by 1.07 adds the 7% cutting allowance, and rounding up gets you to whole pavers, since nobody sells you 342.4 of anything.
The material lines use the landscaper’s constant: one cubic yard covers 324 square feet at 1 inch deep (27 cubic feet per yard × 12 inches per foot). So square feet × depth in inches ÷ 324 gives cubic yards directly — 6 inches of compacted gravel base and 1 inch of bedding sand, the standard patio build-up.
Polymeric sand for the joints is figured at one 50 lb bag per 75 square feet. That’s a middle-of-the-road number: tight-jointed Hollands stretch a bag further, wide-jointed flagstone-look pavers eat it faster, so treat the bag count as a starting point.
Worked example: a 12 × 10 ft patio in 6 × 9 in pavers
Say you’re laying a 12 × 10 ft dining patio off the back door in 6 × 9 inch concrete pavers with the standard 7% waste — exactly what the calculator loads by default, so the result box above shows these numbers.
- Area: 12 × 10 = 120 sq ft. In square inches: 120 × 144 = 17,280 in².
- Paver face: 6 × 9 = 54 in². 17,280 ÷ 54 = 320 pavers to cover the slab-to-slab area.
- Waste: 320 × 1.07 = 342.4, rounded up to 343 pavers to buy. The extras become the cut pieces along the border and a few spares for the pallet-damaged ones.
- Gravel base: 120 × 6 ÷ 324 = 2.22 yd³ of compactible aggregate at 6 inches deep.
- Bedding sand: 120 × 1 ÷ 324 = 0.37 yd³ — a 1-inch screeded layer.
- Polymeric sand: 120 ÷ 75 = 1.6, so 2 × 50 lb bags to sweep into the joints.
Order the gravel as “¾-minus” or road base and have it dumped as close to the dig as the truck can get — 2.22 yd³ is roughly three tons, and every extra wheelbarrow run costs you.
How many pavers do you need per 100 square feet?
These counts come straight from the face-area math, before any waste allowance. Multiply by your patio’s size in hundreds of square feet, then add 7% for straight layouts or 15% for curves.
| Paver size | Face area | Pavers per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 8 in | 32 in² | 450 |
| Holland (7.87 × 3.94 in) | 31.01 in² | 465 |
| 6 × 6 in | 36 in² | 400 |
| 6 × 9 in | 54 in² | 267 |
| 12 × 12 in | 144 in² | 100 |
| 16 × 16 in | 256 in² | 57 |
Note the 4×8 and the Holland aren’t the same paver: a “4×8” is a true 4 × 8 inches, while the Holland is the metric 200 × 100 mm brick (7.87 × 3.94 in), so you need 15 more of them per 100 square feet. Check the spec sheet before you order — the two get mixed up constantly.
Frequently asked questions
How deep should the gravel base be under pavers?
For a patio or walkway, 6 inches of compacted road base is the standard this calculator uses, laid in 2–3 inch lifts and compacted between each. A driveway that carries vehicles needs 8–12 inches, and soft clay soil pushes you to the deep end of every range. Skimping on base depth is the number-one reason paver patios wave and sink within a few winters — dig once, dig deep.
What kind of sand goes under pavers?
Use coarse concrete sand (ASTM C33) for the 1-inch bedding layer — its angular grains lock under compaction and drain well. Don’t substitute play sand, which is too fine and rounded, or stone dust and limestone screenings, which hold water and can heave. Polymeric sand is a different product entirely: it goes on top, swept into the joints and misted so its binders harden and lock the field together.
How much extra should I add for curves and diagonal patterns?
Bump the waste field from 7% to 15%. Every curve means cutting pavers to the arc and discarding the offcuts, and a diagonal or 45-degree herringbone layout generates cut triangles along every edge that rarely reuse elsewhere. Circles and fan patterns can run past 15% if the radius is tight. Straight-edged, square-to-the-house layouts are the only ones where the default 7% comfortably holds.
Does the laying pattern change how many pavers I need?
Not the base count — running bond, herringbone, and basketweave all cover the same square footage with the same pavers, so the per-100-sq-ft numbers hold for any pattern. What changes is the waste: herringbone laid at 45 degrees produces edge cuts on every course, while running bond parallel to the house wastes the least. Adjust the waste percentage for the pattern, not the paver count.
These results are planning estimates only — verify quantities with your supplier and local building code before you buy or build. See our terms of use.