How much waste should I allow?

It depends on the pattern, not the size. Five percent for a stack bond laid square, ten for a running bond, fifteen to twenty for herringbone or anything on the diagonal where every edge paver is an angled cut.

Should I subtract the sand joints?

No. The joints make each paver occupy slightly more ground than its own size, so ignoring them means buying a handful extra rather than coming up short.

Does this include the base?

No, and the base is most of the work. Excavation depth, crushed stone and bedding sand all depend on what the paving has to carry, and a driveway needs far more beneath it than a garden path.

Why does it tell me the edging length?

Because pavers laid without a restraint around the perimeter will creep outwards and the joints will open up. The edging figure is the perimeter of the area, which is what you need to hold it together.

Pavers are sold by the pallet. How does that work?

Pallets list the square feet they cover as well as the piece count. Take the pavers-to-buy figure, divide by the pieces per pallet, and round up - the same rounding rule applies again.

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Paver Calculator

How many pavers a patio, path or driveway needs, from the area and the paver size, with an allowance for cuts.

Enter the area you are paving and the size of the paver, and this works out how many to order once cuts and breakages are allowed for.

Your details

Area length(ft)

Area width(ft)

Paver length(in)

Paver width(in)

Waste allowance(%)

5% stack bond, 10% running bond, 15-20% herringbone or diagonal.

Result

Pavers to buy

132

Rounded up, waste included.

Pavers to cover the areaBefore any allowance for cuts and breakages.: 120
Area to paveSquare feet of ground being covered.: 120
Area of one paverSquare feet covered by a single paver.: 1
Edging neededLinear feet of restraint around the perimeter.: 44

About this tool

How Many Pavers Do I Need?

Area divided by the size of one paver, plus waste. The arithmetic, why the pattern matters more than the size, and what the count leaves out.

Free download

Paving Measure & Order Sheet

Measure each area, work out the count, and take one list to the yard. Same conversions this calculator uses.

Free, no email required — print it or save it as a PDF.

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Paver Calculator infographic

The key numbers as one image — free to save, share, or embed on your own site with credit.

How this is calculated

Paver size is entered in inches, so one paver covers length x width / 144 square feet, 144 being the number of square inches in a square foot. The count is the area divided by the area of one paver, increased by the waste allowance and rounded up. A 10% allowance multiplies by 1.1. Joint width is not deducted. Sand or polymeric sand between pavers makes each one effectively slightly larger, so ignoring the joints buys you a few spare rather than leaving you short. The waste allowance depends far more on the PATTERN than on the size of the area. A running bond or stack bond laid square to the edges wastes little. Herringbone and any diagonal layout cut every single edge paver at an angle, which is why they want 15 percent or more. This counts the pavers only. The base is a separate calculation: excavation depth, crushed stone and bedding sand all depend on what the paving will carry.

Common questions

How much waste should I allow?: It depends on the pattern, not the size. Five percent for a stack bond laid square, ten for a running bond, fifteen to twenty for herringbone or anything on the diagonal where every edge paver is an angled cut.
Should I subtract the sand joints?: No. The joints make each paver occupy slightly more ground than its own size, so ignoring them means buying a handful extra rather than coming up short.
Does this include the base?: No, and the base is most of the work. Excavation depth, crushed stone and bedding sand all depend on what the paving has to carry, and a driveway needs far more beneath it than a garden path.
Why does it tell me the edging length?: Because pavers laid without a restraint around the perimeter will creep outwards and the joints will open up. The edging figure is the perimeter of the area, which is what you need to hold it together.
Pavers are sold by the pallet. How does that work?: Pallets list the square feet they cover as well as the piece count. Take the pavers-to-buy figure, divide by the pieces per pallet, and round up - the same rounding rule applies again.

Take it further with AI

Copy this into ChatGPT or Claude with your own numbers filled in. It hands over the figures this calculator worked out, so the answer is built on real arithmetic instead of a guess.

I used the Paver Calculator at https://www.bfcbrilliance.com/tools/paver-calculator.

What I entered:
- Area length (ft): ___
- Area width (ft): ___
- Paver length (in): ___
- Paver width (in): ___
- Waste allowance (%): ___

What it calculated:
- Pavers to buy: ___
- Pavers to cover the area: ___
- Area to pave: ___
- Area of one paver: ___
- Edging needed: ___

Use those figures as given — they are already worked out, so please don't recalculate or estimate your own. Help me turn them into a plan: what to buy or do, in what order, roughly what it should cost, and the mistakes people most often make with this job.

Where the job touches structure, gas, or electrics, tell me to check local building code and whether a permit or a licensed trade is required.

Last updated Jul 31, 2026

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Part of a bigger job

How to Estimate Pavers, Gravel and Garden Walls

Why paver sand at one inch is the whole answer, which unit your gravel supplier is quoting, and the buried course almost every wall estimate forgets.

Walks through all 5 paving & garden walls tools in order.

More paving & garden walls tools

Paver Sand CalculatorOne cubic yard covers exactly 324 sq ft at one inch — and one inch is the whole answer. A thicker sand bed is the commonest reason a patio ruts.Gravel CalculatorCubic yards AND tons, because suppliers quote one or the other - and ordering the right number in the wrong unit is a lorry-sized mistake.Retaining Wall Block CalculatorBlocks, courses and caps for a segmental retaining wall - including the buried first course that almost every estimate forgets.Brick CalculatorBricks per square foot worked from your actual brick and joint, not a rule of thumb - because the joint width moves the count by a seventh.