Material takeoff
How many pavers do I need?
Enter your patio size and paver dimensions to get a count, with waste built in for the cuts you cannot avoid.
How the math works
pavers = patio square feet × (1 + waste) ÷ square feet per paver
square feet per paver = length in inches × width in inches ÷ 144
A 4 by 8 inch holland paver covers 0.222 square feet, so a hundred square foot patio takes 450 of them before waste.
Pattern drives the waste number. A running bond laid square to straight edges wastes little. Herringbone at 45 degrees cuts every paver along both borders, and a curved edge cuts every paver along the curve. Ten percent is the floor; fifteen is safer for anything diagonal or curved.
What goes underneath
For a pedestrian patio on ordinary soil, a common build is four inches of compacted base stone, one inch of bedding sand screeded flat, then the pavers.
Driveways need substantially more base — often eight to twelve inches — and the base is where the load is carried.
Total excavation depth is base plus sand plus paver thickness. For a typical patio that is four plus one plus two and three eighths, near seven and a half inches of soil to remove and haul away.
Edge restraint is not optional. Without it, the outer course walks outward every freeze and the whole field loosens from the edge inward.
Where people get it wrong
- Ten percent waste on a herringbone pattern
- Diagonal patterns cut both borders. Budget fifteen percent, or more with curves.
- Base too thin
- Base depth is the single biggest factor in whether the patio stays flat. Do not economize here.
- Compacting in one lift
- Base should be compacted in lifts of a few inches. One deep lift compacts only at the top.
- No slope for drainage
- A patio needs roughly a quarter inch of fall per foot away from the house. Flat patios hold water and then hold ice.
Background
A paver patio is really four materials stacked: excavation, compacted base, bedding sand, and the pavers themselves, held in by edge restraint. The pavers are the part people price, and the base is the part that determines whether it is still flat in five years.
What you need for the job
Common questions
How many 4x8 pavers per square foot?
4.5 pavers per square foot, since each covers 0.222 square feet.
How many pavers do I need for a 10x10 patio?
A 100 square foot patio takes about 495 four-by-eight pavers including 10% waste.
How deep should paver base be?
Four inches of compacted base for a patio or walkway, and eight to twelve inches for a driveway. More on soft or clay soils.
What sand goes under pavers?
Coarse concrete sand for the one inch bedding layer. Polymeric sand goes in the joints afterwards. Do not use bedding sand in the joints or joint sand for the bed.
Do I need edge restraint for pavers?
Yes. Without it the perimeter pavers shift outward over time and the entire field loosens. It is inexpensive relative to rebuilding the edge.
Measuring by hand is where estimates go wrong
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