Paver Calculator

Enter your patio or walkway dimensions, paver size, and layout pattern below to calculate how many pavers to order, plus the gravel base and sand bedding that go underneath them. A 120 sq ft patio laid with 4 in × 8 in pavers needs 540 bare pavers before waste, and about 1.5 cubic yards of base material besides.

Area length (ft)

Area width (ft)

Paver length (in)

Paver width (in)

Layout pattern

Running bond (8%)Herringbone (15%)

Gravel base depth (in)

Bare pavers

540

Pavers needed (Running bond, 8%)

584

Gravel base (4in)

1.48 cu yd

Sand bedding (1in)

0.37 cu yd

Pavers needed already rounds up to the nearest whole paver. Gravel base and sand bedding are separate materials that sit underneath the pavers, not part of the paver count. Order both in whole or half-yard increments, rounding up to what your supplier offers.

Why This Calculator Also Sizes Your Base Material

This is the part that trips people up if they’re used to shopping for tile. An indoor tile floor sits on a thin mortar bed over a rigid subfloor, and that’s the whole system: pick tiles, pick grout, done. Pavers are different: they sit outdoors directly on soil, so they need a compacted aggregate base underneath and a thin leveling layer of sand on top of that base, or they’ll shift, sink, and heave with the first hard frost. A paver count alone is only one of three materials you need to order, which is why this calculator sizes all three at once instead of stopping at the pavers.

Gravel base (cubic yards) = (Project Area sq ft × Base Depth in) ÷ 324

For a patio or walkway, 4 inches of compacted aggregate base is the standard depth, and it’s the same crushed-stone material covered in our gravel calculator. If you’re paving a driveway or another area that carries vehicle loads, plan on a deeper 6- to 8-inch base instead; the extra depth is what keeps the surface from rutting under weight.

Depth is the headline number, but it is not the only thing that decides whether the base holds. The soil under it, the lifts it is compacted in, and the aggregate gradation all matter, and the paver base and bedding guide walks the whole stack from the subgrade up.

On top of that compacted base goes a thin bedding layer of coarse sand, screeded flat so the pavers have a level, adjustable surface to set into. Unlike the base, this layer doesn’t scale with project size the same way. One inch is the near-universal industry standard for paver bedding sand, so it’s fixed in the calculator rather than something you dial in yourself.

Sand bedding (cubic yards) = (Project Area sq ft × 1 in) ÷ 324

The Waste Factor Comes From Your Layout Pattern

Like this site’s tile calculator, the layout pattern you pick changes your waste factor more than almost any other decision in the project:

Layout Pattern	Waste Factor	Why
Running bond	8%	Rows offset by half a paver; nearly every cut is a simple straight trim along the perimeter
Herringbone	15%	Pavers interlock at 90° angles, so most edge and corner pieces need a precise angled cut

Doing the Math

Pavers needed = Project Area ÷ Paver Area, then apply the waste factor above.

Example: A 12 ft × 10 ft patio (120 sq ft) using 4 in × 8 in pavers, running bond pattern, 4-inch base.

Paver area = (4 × 8) ÷ 144 = 0.222 sq ft Bare pavers: 120 ÷ 0.222 = 540 pavers With 8% running-bond waste: 540 × 1.08 = 583.2 → 584 pavers Gravel base: 120 × 4 ÷ 324 = 1.48 cubic yards Sand bedding: 120 × 1 ÷ 324 = 0.37 cubic yards

Switch to herringbone for the same patio and the paver count alone jumps: 540 × 1.15 = 621 pavers. That is 37 more for the identical footprint, purely from the pattern choice. The base and sand volumes don’t change with pattern, since they depend on area and depth, not how the top layer is arranged.

Order These as Three Separate Line Items

Pavers, gravel base, and bedding sand are three different materials, priced and delivered differently: pavers by the piece or pallet, base and sand by the cubic yard or by weight. Budget and schedule delivery for all three before you start digging, and don’t let the paver count alone drive your order: a beautiful stack of pavers with no base underneath just means a patio that heaves apart by next spring. If your project needs a thicker structural base than the 4-inch patio default (a driveway, for example), our gravel calculator can size that layer more precisely.

Edge Restraint Is What Keeps the Field Tight

A paver patio fails at its edges first, and almost always for the same reason: nothing was holding them.

Pavers rely on interlock. Each unit is held by the ones around it, and the whole field only works if the perimeter cannot move outward. Without restraint the edge units creep, the joints open, sand washes out, and the failure works inward from the border over a few seasons. Plastic or aluminium edging spiked into the compacted base is the standard fix, installed against the base rather than the bedding sand, which is too loose to hold a spike.

Bedding sand is a precision layer, not a levelling one. It should be one inch of coarse sand, screeded flat and left uncompacted, with the pavers set into it and vibrated down afterwards. The temptation is to use it to smooth out a base that was not levelled properly. Doing that produces soft spots that settle unevenly once the patio is in use, and no amount of extra sand fixes a base that was not compacted.

Joint sand is a separate product from bedding sand. Regular joint sand is cheaper and washes out over time. Polymeric sand contains a binder that sets when wetted, resisting washout, weeds and ants. It costs more and it is less forgiving to install, since it must be swept in fully and the paver surface cleaned before activation or it hazes over and sets on the face.