Paver Calculator

How to use this calculator

Measure the length and width of the area you're paving and pick your paver size from the presets, or enter a custom size. You'll get the number of pavers, the area covered, and how many pavers per square foot. Paving a patio and a path? Add a row for each and they're totaled together.

Two optional fields do real work here. Joint gap is the spacing you'll leave between pavers — leave it blank for tight-laid pavers. Waste allowance starts blank, which means no waste is added unless you enter a number. Don't skip it. On this calculator, more than any other on the site, the waste figure is the difference between finishing your patio and stopping two rows short.

The formula, explained

Pavers are a counting problem, not a volume one — there's no depth, no density, and no cubic yards. You're dividing one area by another:

Paver area (sq ft) = (Length in ÷ 12) × (Width in ÷ 12)
Pavers = Total area (sq ft) ÷ Paver area (sq ft)
Then multiply by your waste allowance and round up.

Rounding always goes up, because you cannot buy 0.4 of a paver. If you enter a joint gap, the calculator adds it to both dimensions first, since each paver effectively occupies its own size plus half a joint on every side.

Worked example: a 12 ft × 12 ft patio with 6 × 9 in pavers

1. Patio area: 12 × 12 = 144 square feet
2. Paver area: (6 ÷ 12) × (9 ÷ 12) = 0.5 × 0.75 = 0.375 sq ft
3. Pavers: 144 ÷ 0.375 = 384 pavers
4. Per square foot: 1 ÷ 0.375 = 2.67 pavers
5. Add 5% waste: 384 × 1.05 = 403.2, rounded up to 404 pavers

Waste allowance: the number that decides your project

This deserves its own section because it's where paver projects go wrong. Every cut paver produces an offcut, and most offcuts are unusable. A 5% allowance is fine for a plain rectangle laid in running bond. Turn that same patio 45 degrees, or curve one edge, and your cuts multiply — every single paver along the perimeter needs cutting, and each cut wastes most of a paver.

Layout	Add	Why
Running bond or stack bond, square area	5%	Cuts only along two edges, mostly reusable
Running bond with obstacles (posts, beds)	8–10%	Extra cuts around each obstruction
45° diagonal or herringbone	10–15%	Every perimeter paver is a cut; offcuts are triangles
Circular, curved, or radial edges	15–20%	Every edge paver is a bespoke cut
Multi-size or multi-colour patterns	10%+	You'll run short on one component before the others

What that means on our 144 sq ft patio, which needs 384 pavers before waste:

Layout	Waste	Order	Extra pavers
Running bond, square	5%	404	+20
Running bond, some cuts	8%	415	+31
45° herringbone	12%	431	+47
Circular / curved edge	18%	454	+70

The gap between 5% and 18% is 50 pavers. Guessing wrong in the cautious direction costs you a few dollars of leftovers that make excellent spare repairs. Guessing wrong in the other direction means a second trip, and quite possibly a different production batch in a visibly different shade. Our guide on how many pavers you need goes further into pattern planning.

Pavers per square foot by size

Useful for sanity-checking a supplier's quote, or converting between a pallet count and an area.

Paver size	Area each	Pavers per sq ft
4 × 8 in (brick)	0.22 sq ft	4.50
6 × 6 in	0.25 sq ft	4.00
6 × 9 in	0.38 sq ft	2.67
8 × 8 in	0.44 sq ft	2.25
12 × 12 in	1.00 sq ft	1.00
16 × 16 in	1.78 sq ft	0.56
12 × 18 in	1.50 sq ft	0.67
12 × 24 in	2.00 sq ft	0.50

How many pavers for common patio sizes

Counts below are before any waste allowance — add yours from the table above.

Patio	Area	4 × 8 in	6 × 9 in	12 × 12 in
8 × 10 ft	80 sq ft	360	214	80
10 × 10 ft	100 sq ft	450	267	100
10 × 12 ft	120 sq ft	540	320	120
12 × 12 ft	144 sq ft	648	384	144
12 × 16 ft	192 sq ft	864	512	192
12 × 20 ft	240 sq ft	1,080	640	240
16 × 20 ft	320 sq ft	1,440	854	320

Step by step: how to measure

1. Measure the finished paved surface, not the excavation. The excavation runs wider to accommodate the base, but you don't pave that extra.
2. Split odd shapes into rectangles. A patio with a walkway off one corner is two rectangles — enter each as its own row.
3. For a curved edge, measure to the outermost point of the curve and treat it as a rectangle. You'll over-count slightly, which is exactly what you want on a curve — those are the highest-waste cuts on the job.
4. For a circle, use π × radius². A 12 ft round patio is about 113 sq ft, so enter it as 12 × 9.4.
5. Check your paver's real size. Take a tape to one at the yard. Nominal names are approximate, and a fraction of an inch across 400 pavers is several rows.

What the joint gap does to your count

Most concrete pavers are laid tight, with the joint formed by the small chamfer on each edge — in that case leave the gap blank. If you're deliberately spacing them, the gap reduces your paver count, because each one covers more ground:

Joint gap	Effective size	Pavers per sq ft	Needed for 144 sq ft
None (tight-laid)	0.375 sq ft	2.67	384
⅛ in	0.388 sq ft	2.58	372
¼ in	0.402 sq ft	2.49	359
⅜ in	0.415 sq ft	2.41	347

A quarter-inch gap saves 25 pavers on a small patio — but only enter a gap you're actually going to lay. Assuming a gap you don't leave is how you finish 25 pavers short.

Don't forget what goes underneath

The pavers are the last layer and the smallest part of the work. Under every lasting patio there are three more:

1. Compacted subgrade — the soil, excavated and tamped firm.
2. 4–6 in of compacted gravel base — this carries the load. Size it with the gravel calculator; the base guide explains depth and material.
3. 1 in of bedding sand — a levelling course, screeded and never compacted before laying. Size it with the sand calculator and read how much sand you need for pavers.
4. Polymeric jointing sand, swept into the joints once the pavers are down and compacted.

You also need edge restraints around the perimeter. Without them the outer pavers creep outward every year, the joints open, and the whole field loosens from the edge inward.

What will it cost?

Pavers are usually priced per square foot rather than per unit, which is another reason to know your area as well as your count.

• Concrete pavers: roughly $2–$6 per sq ft
• Clay brick pavers: roughly $3–$8 per sq ft
• Natural stone: roughly $8–$20 per sq ft
• Polymeric jointing sand: roughly $25–$40 per bag

Worked cost: the full stack for a 12 × 12 ft patio

Layer	Quantity	Cost
Pavers (404 at 6 × 9 in)	144 sq ft	$288–$864
Gravel base, 4 in	1.78 cu yd / 2.49 tons	$50–$112
Bedding sand, 1 in	0.44 cu yd / 0.60 tons	$15–$24
Polymeric jointing sand	2–3 bags	$50–$120
Materials total		roughly $400–$1,120

Add delivery on the gravel and sand, plus edge restraints and spikes. Professional installation typically runs $10–$25 per square foot all-in, which puts the same patio somewhere around $1,400–$3,600 — so the base and bedding you'd rather not think about are most of what you're paying for.

Common paver mistakes

• Leaving the waste field blank. This calculator adds nothing unless you tell it to. Enter 5% minimum, and 10–15% for anything diagonal or curved.
• Mixing production batches. Concrete pavers vary in shade between runs. Order the whole job at once, from one batch, and you'll never see the difference. Come back for 30 more in August and you very likely will.
• Trusting the nominal size. A "6 × 9" paver is not always exactly 6 by 9. Measure one before you order 400.
• Entering a joint gap you won't actually lay. It reduces your count — and leaves you short when you lay them tight.
• Ordering pavers but not the base. The pavers are one of four layers. Budget the gravel and sand at the same time or the project stalls.
• Skipping edge restraints. Without them the perimeter spreads, joints open, and the field unravels from the outside in.
• Not keeping spares. Keep ten or so from the original batch. A cracked paver in three years is a five-minute fix if you have a match, and an eyesore if you don't.

Pro tips for a patio that looks laid, not assembled

• Blend from three pallets at once. Even within a batch there's slight variation. Pulling from several pallets as you go distributes it invisibly; working through one pallet at a time can leave visible bands.
• Dry-lay a small section first. Ten minutes of trial laying tells you more about the pattern and joint spacing than any diagram.
• Start from the longest straight edge and work outward, so your cuts land at the far side and against the house rather than in the middle of the view.
• Rent a wet saw, not a grinder. Faster, straighter, and dramatically less dust.
• Snap chalk lines every few rows to check you're running square. Small drifts compound — by row 20 you can be an inch out and it shows.
• Order spares deliberately. Bump your waste up a couple of points and store the leftovers dry. They're the cheapest insurance on the project.

A note on accuracy

This calculator gives you a clean count from your measurements and paver size. Real jobs vary with actual paver dimensions, how tightly you lay them, and how many cuts your pattern demands, so treat the result as a close planning number and round up. Pavers are usually sold by the pallet or layer, so your supplier will round up again — ask what a full pallet holds before you finalise the order.

Frequently asked questions

How many pavers do I need for a 12x12 patio?

A 12 ft by 12 ft patio is 144 square feet. With 6 × 9 in pavers that's 384 pavers before waste, or about 404 with a 5% allowance. With 12 × 12 in pavers it's 144, and with 4 × 8 in brick pavers it's 648.

How many pavers are in a square foot?

It depends entirely on size. A 4 × 8 in brick paver covers 0.22 sq ft, so you need 4.5 per square foot. A 6 × 9 in paver needs 2.67, an 8 × 8 in needs 2.25, and a 12 × 12 in paver is exactly 1 per square foot.

How much waste should I add for pavers?

Five percent for a plain rectangle in running bond. Eight to ten percent if you're cutting around posts or beds, 10–15% for a 45° diagonal or herringbone pattern, and 15–20% for circular or curved edges. Note the calculator adds nothing unless you enter a number.

Why does a herringbone pattern need more pavers?

Because every paver around the perimeter has to be cut at an angle, and the offcuts are triangles you usually can't reuse. On a 144 sq ft patio, going from a square running bond at 5% to a 45° herringbone at 12% takes the order from 404 pavers to 431.

Should I enter a joint gap?

Only if you're actually going to leave one. Most concrete pavers are laid tight, with the joint formed by the chamfered edges, so the gap should be blank. If you do space them, a quarter-inch gap on a 144 sq ft patio drops the count from 384 to 359 — but assuming a gap you don't lay leaves you 25 pavers short.

What goes under pavers?

Four layers: compacted subgrade, 4–6 inches of compacted gravel base, 1 inch of screeded bedding sand, then the pavers, with polymeric sand swept into the joints afterwards. The gravel carries the load; the sand only levels. You also need edge restraints around the perimeter.

How much does a paver patio cost?

For a 12 × 12 ft patio, materials run roughly $400–$1,120: $288–$864 for concrete pavers, $50–$112 of gravel base, $15–$24 of bedding sand, and $50–$120 of polymeric sand, plus delivery and edge restraints. Professional installation typically runs $10–$25 per square foot, or about $1,400–$3,600 for the same patio.

Should I order all my pavers at once?

Yes. Concrete pavers vary in shade between production batches, and a top-up order months later can arrive visibly different. Order the whole job from one batch, blend from several pallets as you lay, and keep about ten spares from that batch for future repairs.