Plan a paver patio or walkway from the ground up. Enter the area and a paver size — 4 by 8 brick, Holland stone, 6 by 6, 6 by 9, 12 by 12, 16 by 16, or your own — plus the joint gap and laying pattern, and the calculator counts the pavers with the right waste allowance. It also sizes the compacted gravel base in cubic yards and tons, the 1-inch bedding sand layer, bags of polymeric joint sand, and the length of edge restraint.
Ordering the base separately? The gravel calculator handles other depths and materials. Building a raised patio? The retaining wall calculator sizes the wall, and the concrete calculator covers a poured slab instead. Everything runs in your browser. Tiling a floor indoors instead? The tile calculator counts tiles and boxes with grout gaps and waste.
Frequently asked questions
How many pavers do I need per square foot?
Divide 144 by the paver's length plus the joint times its width plus the joint, with everything in inches. A 4 by 8 inch brick paver laid tight works out to 4.5 per square foot; with an eighth-inch joint it is about 4.3. A 6 by 9 is about 2.7, a 12 by 12 is 1, and a 16 by 16 is 0.56. Multiply by your patio area and add a waste allowance for cuts. Tumbled and cobble pavers vary in size, so measure a real paver and enter its actual face dimensions.
How much waste should I add for pavers?
About 5 percent for running bond, stack bond, and basket weave on a rectangular patio, 10 percent for a 90-degree herringbone, and around 15 percent for 45-degree herringbone, circles, or curved borders, because every edge paver has to be cut on an angle. Irregular outlines and lots of obstacles such as drains and posts push the number up. Having a few spare pavers from the same production run is also useful for future repairs, since colors vary between batches.
How thick should the paver base be?
The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute recommends 4 to 6 inches of compacted aggregate base for patios and walkways and 8 to 12 inches for driveways, with more on clay or poorly drained soil. On top goes a 1-inch layer of screeded concrete sand for bedding — not stone dust or a thick sand layer, which can shift. Road base loses roughly 15 to 20 percent of its volume when compacted, so the calculator divides the finished base volume by (1 − loss) to get the loose quantity you order: 17.6 percent extra for the default 15 percent loss, 25 percent extra for a 20 percent loss. Extend the base 6 to 12 inches beyond the paver edge.
How many bags of polymeric sand do I need?
It depends on joint width, joint depth, and paver size. Techniseal's product guide rates a 50 lb bag of RG+ polymeric sand at about 60 to 75 square feet with narrow joints and 25 to 40 square feet with wide joints. The calculator defaults to the conservative low end — 60 square feet for joints up to a quarter inch and 25 for wider ones — and small pavers such as 4 by 8 bricks use more sand than large slabs because they have more joint per square foot. Check your bag's coverage chart and enter it.
How much edging do I need for a paver patio?
Edge restraint runs along every edge that is not held by something solid, so start with the perimeter. The calculator adds up the perimeter of each rectangle and circle; for triangles or known areas, type the total yourself. Subtract any side that butts against a house foundation, a concrete slab, or a wall, and add a little for overlap at joints. Plastic or aluminum edging is usually sold in 6 to 8 foot lengths and pinned to the base with 10 to 12 inch spikes about every foot.