Paver Patio Calculator

The tool divides your patio area by the area of one paver and adds a waste percentage. Diagonal and herringbone patterns need more waste because of the extra edge cuts.

Four inches of compacted base suits foot traffic. Use six inches or more for poor soils, freeze-thaw climates, or vehicle loads.

About one inch of coarse sand is standard, screeded flat before laying. The calculator converts your chosen depth to cubic yards for ordering.

Gravel and sand are sold by the cubic yard. The tool multiplies area by depth in feet and divides by 27 to convert cubic feet to cubic yards.

It depends on the size. 8 x 4 in pavers run about 4.5 per square foot, 6 x 6 in pavers about 4, and 12 x 12 in pavers are 1 per square foot. The calculator works out the exact count from your measurements.

A 1 inch layer of coarse sand (concrete sand, not fine sand) levels the pavers, seats them evenly, and absorbs small ground movement. Without it, the pieces sit unevenly and shift.

Install plastic or metal edge restraints around the patio and sweep polymeric sand into the joints. Polymeric sand hardens with water, locks the pavers together, and resists weeds and ants.

Bump the typical 10% up to 15 to 20% for diagonal or herringbone patterns, where nearly every edge takes a cut and produces more unusable offcuts.