Paver Calculator
Find how many pavers to buy for a patio, walkway, or driveway. Enter the area to pave, the size of your pavers, and the joint width. Add the thickness of the bedding sand and the base to see how much sand and gravel base you need.
Add more areas, or subtract areas that need no pavers, such as a planter.
- Choose US or Metric. You can still change the unit of any single field.
- Enter the area to pave. Use Add section for more areas, and set a section to Subtract for a planter or a tree in the middle.
- Enter the Paver length and Paver width. Use the actual size on the label or product page. A paver sold as 4 × 8 in can measure slightly less.
- Check the Joint width. It starts at 1/16 in (2 mm), the narrowest joint CMHA recommends for concrete pavers.
- Check the Bedding sand thickness, which starts at 1 in (25 mm), and enter the Base thickness after compaction.
- Keep the 10% waste allowance or change it. If you change it, Reset to 10% brings it back.
- Optionally, enter the Pavers per pallet to see how many pallets to buy, and a price per square foot, square yard, square meter, paver, or pallet to estimate the cost.
For a kit of pavers in several sizes that is sold by area, leave the paver size blank. The calculator still shows the total area, the cost from a price per square foot or square meter, and the sand and base. For patio slabs laid on a mortar bed, enter the actual joint, such as 10 mm, and clear the Bedding sand thickness. The calculator does not work out the mortar.
Dimension fields accept whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and mixed
numbers, such as 12, 7 7/8, 3/16,
or 100.
How many pavers you need
The calculator finds the area to pave, adds the waste allowance, and divides by the area of one paver plus its share of the joints:
Total area = net area × (1 + waste % ÷ 100)
Pavers = total area ÷ ((paver length + joint) × (paver width + joint)), rounded up
The bedding sand and the base are the net area times each thickness:
Sand or base volume = net area × thickness
The waste allowance covers cut and broken pavers, so the sand and base use the net area without it. With several sections, the calculator adds the sections set to Add and subtracts those set to Subtract. For shapes other than rectangles, it uses these formulas:
| Shape | Area |
|---|---|
| Rectangle | length × width |
| Circle | π × diameter² ÷ 4 (or π × radius²) |
| Triangle (base and height) | base × height ÷ 2 |
| Triangle (three sides) | Heron's formula: √(s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)), where s = (a + b + c) ÷ 2 |
| Trapezoid | (parallel side A + parallel side B) ÷ 2 × height |
| Ring | π × (outer diameter² − inner diameter²) ÷ 4 |
| Rectangular border | outer length × outer width − (outer length − 2 × border width) × (outer width − 2 × border width) |
| Known area | the area you enter |
Joint width and pallet coverage
The Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA) technical note PAV-TEC-002, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements, says joints between concrete pavers should be between 1/16 and 3/16 in (2 and 5 mm). Spacer bars on most pavers keep a minimum joint width. The calculator starts at the narrowest joint, so it does not count too few pavers.
The coverage printed for a pallet or pack often leaves out the joints. For example, Travis Perkins lists a pack of 488 Bradstone blocks, 200 × 100 mm, as covering 9.76 m², which is 488 × 0.02 m². With 2 mm joints and no waste allowance, the calculator counts 474 blocks for 9.76 m², not 488. To count them the way the label does, set the joint width to 0.
Bedding sand and base
CMHA says to spread and screed the bedding sand to 1 in (25 mm) before compaction, and to build a compacted base at least 4 in (100 mm) thick for patios and walkways, and 6 in (150 mm) for driveways, on well-drained soil. Colder climates and wet or weak soils need a thicker base. In the UK, Marshalls' guide to laying block paving uses a 50 mm layer of sharp sand and a sub-base at least 100 mm deep. Enter the thicknesses your supplier or local guide gives.
The base volume is the volume after compaction. Loose base takes up more room before it is compacted. To find the loose volume and the weight to order, enter the same area and base thickness in the Road Base Calculator. CMHA's technical note on edge restraints also says the base should extend past the edge restraint by at least the base thickness. The calculator counts the base under the paved area only, so work out the extra strip separately. Measure its width from the edge of the pavers, so it is the width of the edge restraint plus at least the base thickness. For a rectangle, the strip is the perimeter × width × thickness, plus 4 × width² × thickness for the corners. For any shape, you can also enter the outer shape of the base in the Cubic Yard Calculator and subtract the paved area.
Extra pavers for cuts
Travis Perkins recommends adding about 10% to an order of block paving for cuts, breakages, and repairs, so the waste allowance starts at 10%. Herringbone and diagonal patterns and curved edges need more cuts, so raise it for those.
Examples
A patio
A 12 ft × 10 ft patio is 120 ft², or 132 ft² with 10% extra. With 4 × 8 in pavers and 1/16 in joints, that is 581 pavers, or 2 pallets of 480. It takes 10 ft³ (0.37 yd³) of bedding sand at 1 in, and 40 ft³ (1.48 yd³) of compacted base at 4 in.
Metric dimensions
A 5 m × 4 m driveway is 20 m², or 22 m² with 10% extra. With 200 × 100 mm pavers and 2 mm joints, that is 1,068 pavers. It takes 0.5 m³ of bedding sand at 25 mm and 3 m³ of compacted base at 150 mm.
FAQ
484 pavers of 4 × 8 in with 1/16 in joints. The patio is 100 ft², or 110 ft² with 10% extra for cuts.
About 4.4 pavers of 4 × 8 in with 1/16 in joints and before waste, or 4.5 without joints. Divide 144 in² by the area of one paver plus its joints.
Multiply the area by each thickness. For 100 ft², 1 in of bedding sand is 8.33 ft³ (0.31 yd³), and 4 in of compacted base is 33.33 ft³ (1.23 yd³). Order more base than that to allow for compaction and for the strip past the edges.
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