Sod Calculator
Find how much sod you need for a lawn and how many rolls, slabs, or pallets to buy. Enter the shape and size of each lawn area, subtract patios and flower beds, and compare the count for common roll and slab sizes. It works the same for turf, as sod is called in the UK and Australia.
Add more lawn areas, or subtract areas that need no sod, such as a patio or a flower bed.
- Choose US or Metric. You can still change the unit of any single field.
- Pick the shape of each lawn area and enter its dimensions. Use Add section for more areas, such as a front and a back lawn. Set a section to Subtract for areas that need no sod, such as a patio, a flower bed, or the house if you measured the whole lot.
- Check the Waste allowance. It starts at 5%. Use 10% for a lawn with curved edges or many trees and beds to cut around.
- Compare the pieces to buy for each common roll or slab size. For another size, enter the area of one piece as a Custom piece size.
- Optionally, enter the Pallet coverage from your supplier, in square feet, square yards, or square meters, to see how many pallets to buy.
- Optionally, enter a price per square foot, square yard, square meter, piece, or pallet to estimate the cost. For an installed cost, enter the installed price per square foot.
Dimension fields accept whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and mixed
numbers, such as 50, 12.5, 3/4, or
30 1/2. Choose ft + in as the unit to enter a
length such as 12 ft 6 in in two fields.
How much sod you need
The area of a rectangular lawn is:
Area = length × width
For other shapes, the calculator uses these formulas. With several sections, it adds the sections set to Add and subtracts those set to Subtract.
| 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 |
Then it adds the waste allowance and divides by the area of one piece and of one pallet:
Total area = net area × (1 + waste % ÷ 100)
Pieces = total area ÷ area of one roll or slab, rounded up
Pallets = total area ÷ pallet coverage, rounded up
Convert the areas to the same unit before you divide. One square yard is 9 ft², and one square foot is 0.09290304 m². Some US sod farms sell by the square yard, so the results show the total in yd² too, and you can enter a price per yd².
Sod roll and slab sizes
Sod is cut in rolls or in flat slabs, and the size depends on the farm and its cutting machine, so check the size on your quote or the product listing. These sizes are common:
| Where | Common sizes |
|---|---|
| US | Rolls of 10 ft² (such as 2 × 5 ft) and 9 ft² (such as 18 in × 6 ft). Slabs of 16 × 24 in, about 2.67 ft², mostly in the South for St. Augustine, Bermuda, Zoysia, and Centipede |
| Canada | Rolls of 9 or 10 ft² |
| UK | Rolls of 1 m² and of 1 yd² (about 0.84 m²) |
| Australia and New Zealand | Rolls of about 1 m². Some turf comes in slabs, such as 600 × 1,200 mm (0.72 m²) |
The sizes come from Sod Solutions, Purdue University Extension, and producers such as Super-Sod, Zander Sod, and Rolawn. The Turfgrass Growers Association says the most common turf in the UK is a roll of 1 m² or 1 yd². A 1 yd² roll covers about 16% less than a 1 m² roll, so check which one you're buying. Sod Solutions lists a 16 × 24 in slab as 2.66 ft².
For another size, such as a 5 ft² mini roll or a big roll laid by machine, enter the area of one piece as a custom piece size. In Canada, where sod is sold in square feet, switch to US to see the 9 and 10 ft² rolls.
How much sod is on a pallet
There is no standard pallet. Mississippi State University Extension says a pallet typically holds 450 to 500 ft², and Purdue says about 50 square yards (450 ft²). Sod Solutions gives a range of 400 to 700 ft², and a pallet from Zander Sod in Ontario holds 80 rolls, or 720 ft². In the UK, turf is sold by the roll and delivered on a pallet.
Ask your supplier how much one pallet covers and enter it as the pallet coverage. If they give it in square yards, choose yd² as the unit. Entering 50 square yards as 50 m² would count each pallet as about 538 ft² and show too few pallets.
The calculator rounds pallets up. If the last pallet would be mostly left over, you can buy full pallets and make up the rest with single rolls or slabs, which nurseries and some sod farms sell by the piece. Subtract the area of the full pallets from the total, and divide what's left by the area of one piece.
How much extra sod to buy
Sod is cut to fit at the edges, around trees and beds, and along curves. The waste allowance starts at 5%, the extra that Mississippi State University Extension and Lilydale Instant Lawn recommend. Lawn Solutions Australia suggests 5% for simple shapes such as a rectangle and 10% for complex, irregular ones, and Purdue suggests about 10% to cover calculation errors as well. You can change it from 0% to 100%.
Examples
A rectangular backyard
A lawn 50 ft × 20 ft is 1,000 ft². With 5% extra, the total is 1,050 ft². That is 105 rolls of 10 ft², 117 rolls of 9 ft², or 394 slabs of 16 × 24 in. With 450 ft² pallets, it's 3 pallets, or 2 pallets and 15 rolls of 10 ft² for the other 150 ft².
A lawn with a patio and a flower bed
A yard 60 ft × 40 ft with a 30 ft × 20 ft patio and a round bed 10 ft across has 2,400 − 600 − 78.54 = 1,721.46 ft² of lawn. With 5% extra, the total is 1,807.53 ft², or 181 rolls of 10 ft².
Metric dimensions
A lawn 10 m × 6 m is 60 m², or 63 m² with 5% extra. That is 63 rolls of 1 m² or 76 rolls of 1 yd².
FAQ
Usually 450 to 500 ft², or about 50 square yards. Pallets range from about 400 to 700 ft² or more depending on the farm and the grass, so ask your supplier.
About 105 rolls of 10 ft². With 5% extra, 1,000 ft² becomes 1,050 ft², and 1,050 ÷ 10 = 105.
Rolls in the US usually cover 10 ft², such as 2 × 5 ft, or 9 ft², such as 18 in × 6 ft. In the South, sod often comes in 16 × 24 in slabs of about 2.67 ft². In the UK, a roll is usually 1 m² or 1 yd².
Multiply the total area by the installed price per square foot. Enter that price with ft² as the basis, and the calculator applies it to the total including waste. If the installed price already covers waste, set the waste allowance to 0%.
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