How it works
One paver covers its length × width in inches ÷ 144 sq ft. Pavers = area ÷ that coverage, plus waste, rounded up. Optional layers: area × the depth from your installation guide ÷ 12 = cubic feet.
The count ignores joint width; it is a planning figure.
Worked example
A 10 × 10 ft patio with 4 × 8 in pavers: each covers 4 × 8 ÷ 144 = 0.222 sq ft, so 100 ÷ 0.222 = 450 pavers. With 5% extra for cuts: 473.
Tips and common mistakes
- Measure one paver's face, not the pallet label.
- Use the depths in your paver maker's installation guide for any base or sand layer.
Questions about this calculator
How do I calculate how many pavers I need?
Divide the patio area by the area of one paver (length × width in inches ÷ 144), then add waste.
How many 12x12 pavers for 100 sq ft?
100, plus waste (105 at 5%).
How much paver base do I need for 200 square feet?
It depends on the depth your installation guide gives. Each 1 in of depth over 200 sq ft is 16.67 cu ft (0.62 cu yd), so multiply that by the guide's depth in inches.
Sources
Values marked with a link come from the linked source, which opens in a new tab. Unit conversions and our own defaults are listed separately. Every value the site uses is in the methodology source register.
Where the numbers come from 1
- Meters per international foot
- 0.3048 m/ft
- NIST, international foot conversion (opens in a new tab)nist.gov
Unit conversions and our defaults12
- Square inches per square foot
- 144 sq in/sq ft
- Geometry: 12 × 12 inches
- Inches per foot
- 12 in/ft
- Unit definition: one foot contains twelve inches
- Cubic feet per cubic yard
- 27 cu ft/cu yd
- Geometry: 3 × 3 × 3 feet
- Centimeters per meter
- 100 cm/m
- Metric prefix definition: centi is one hundredth
- Circle constant π
- ≈ 3.14159 unitless
- Circle geometry, as specified in the owner brief
- Percent denominator
- 100 %
- Definition of percent: parts per hundred
- Paver calculator starting patio
- 10, 10 ft length, ft width
- Wave 2 pack worked example; editable starting measurements
- Paver calculator starting paver face
- 4, 8 in width, in length
- Wave 2 pack worked example; measure your own paver
- Paver waste default
- 5 %
- Owner planning default; editable
- Mulch, paver and sand circle starting diameter
- 10 ft
- Build choice: matches the starting length; editable, not a recommended size
- Count rounding tolerance
- 1e-9 unitless
- Owner specification: ceil(x − 1e-9)
- Volume and weight display precision
- 2 decimal places
- Owner specification: display volume and tons to two decimals