Paver Calculator

Divide your area by one paver's footprint (its length times width, plus the joint gap), then add a waste allowance for your laying pattern: running bond around 5-7%, herringbone 8-15%, circular or radial layouts 15-22%. This calculator does that in one step: measure your area, pick your paver size and pattern above, and read the range off the results. Order to the top of the range so cuts and breakage don't leave you short mid-job.

100 sq ft using a standard 4x8 paver (0.229 ft² per paver including the joint) comes to about 437 pavers before waste, or roughly 460-490 pavers with 5-12% waste depending on your pattern. That's specific to 4x8 pavers in running bond to 90° herringbone; change the size or pattern in the calculator above and the count moves with it.

It depends entirely on the pattern. Running bond, with its straight cuts, needs the least: about 5-7%. 90° herringbone runs 8-12%, 45° herringbone 10-15%, and circular or radial layouts 15-22%, since every unit along a curve gets cut individually. These are trade-convention figures repeated across contractor and paver-estimating guides rather than a single published standard, which is why they're given as ranges. Use the low end for a simple layout with few borders, the high end for a complex one.

4-6 inches of compacted aggregate base for a patio or walkway carrying foot traffic, or 6-8 inches for a driveway carrying vehicles, per the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute's installation specification. It should be compacted to at least 98% standard Proctor density. This calculator uses the same crusher-run material and density the Gravel Calculator does, so the base tonnage here matches what that tool would tell you for the same depth.

A screeded bedding layer at a nominal 1 inch, never exceeding 1.5 inches, per ICPI's installation specification. That's thick enough to level small irregularities in the base but thin enough that pavers don't rock underfoot once they're set. This calculator pulls that figure and its density straight from the Sand Calculator's paver-bedding-sand entry, so both tools agree.

Smaller units like 4x8 handle curves, cut lines and tight spaces better and are the most widely manufactured size. Larger formats like 6x9 have fewer joints per square foot, so an open patio lays faster. 12x12 slab pavers give a minimal-joint, modern look but waste more material per cut. All three are available in the calculator above with their exact per-unit footprint built in.

Running bond lays pavers in straight offset rows, like brickwork. It's the fastest to install and wastes the least material, but interlocks the least under load. Herringbone sets pavers at a 90° or 45° angle to each other, which locks them together far more effectively under vehicle traffic, at the cost of more angled cuts along every border. 45° herringbone interlocks best of the two but wastes the most, since its triangular offcuts are too small to reuse.

Yes, on every installation without a rigid boundary like a building wall on all sides. Without restraint locking the outer row in place, the whole paver field gradually spreads under foot or vehicle traffic and the joints open up. This calculator estimates the linear footage as your area's perimeter plus about 10% for corner pieces and offcuts, since restraint is sold in fixed stick lengths.

The calculator derives an exact perimeter automatically for a rectangle or circle. For a ring, triangle, trapezoid or a straight area entry, it can't work out an exact perimeter from those dimensions alone, so it asks you to enter your measured perimeter directly rather than guessing at one from an assumed shape.

This varies by manufacturer and size, so it isn't built into this calculator. Check your specific product's pallet count, usually printed on the packaging or the supplier's spec sheet. Once you have the total piece count from the calculator above, divide by your pallet's stated count to see how many pallets to order.

1/8 to 3/16 inch (3-5mm), swept full with joint sand after the pavers are set, per the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute's Concrete Paver Installation specification. This calculator uses 1/8 inch (the tighter end of that range) when computing each paver's footprint, which is the industry's typical default joint width.

Yes, but at a deeper spec than a patio: ICPI calls for 6-8 inches of compacted aggregate base under a residential driveway carrying vehicle loads, versus 4-6 inches for foot-traffic-only patios and walks. Switch the "what's it for" selector above to Driveway and the base depth field pre-fills to the deeper figure automatically.

Select the Circle shape above and enter its diameter for the area, then pick the Circular / radial pattern to apply the higher waste factor that curve-cutting requires: typically 15-22%, well above a straight pattern's 5-12%. Circle-kit and fan-pattern pavers are often also rated by the manufacturer in square feet of coverage per kit; check your product's label against the area and waste range this calculator gives you.

This one counts discrete paver units and sizes the two layers underneath them (gravel base and bedding sand) as line items in a single order, using the same sourced densities those two calculators run on. Use the Gravel or Sand calculators directly if you're ordering either material on its own, for a project that isn't a paver installation.