Plan a paver patio, path or driveway. Enter the area and paver size to count the pavers, and the depths of the base layers to see how much gravel and sand to order.
A typical patio sits on 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) of compacted gravel base and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of bedding sand; driveways need a deeper base.
Formula
Pavers = ⌈ Area ÷ Paver area × (1 + Waste) ⌉
Base volume = Area × Base depth and sand volume = Area × Sand depth. Joints between pavers are narrow enough to ignore for an estimate.
Worked example
A 12 × 10 ft patio is 120 ft². With 8 × 4 in pavers (0.222 ft² each) you need 540 pavers, or 594 with 10% extra. A 4-inch base is 40 ft³ (1.48 yd³) of gravel and 1 inch of sand is 10 ft³ (0.37 yd³).
Frequently asked questions
How many pavers are in a square foot?
4.5 standard 4 × 8 in pavers per square foot, or 50 per square metre for 20 × 10 cm pavers.
How much extra should I buy?
About 5–10% for straight patterns and 10–15% for herringbone or curved edges, which need more cuts.
Last updated · Calculations checked by automated tests· Editorial policy