Counting bricks is the easy part

Pavers per square foot is simple division — the count card does it for the seven common sizes or your own. The waste allowance is where the judgment lives: 5% for straight running bond, ~10% for diagonal or herringbone where every border brick gets cut. Small-format bricks (4×8) waste less per cut but need more cuts at edges; large format (12×24, 16×16) covers fast but a broken corner piece loses more area.

The part most paver calculators skip is what’s underneath. A patio isn’t a layer of bricks, it’s three layers: compacted aggregate base, a ~1 in bedding sand screed, then the pavers. The cards above price out all of it — the gravel in yd³ and tons at the typical ~3,000 lb/yd³ compacted-base figure, and the sand in bags (50 lb ≈ 0.5 ft³). Those match the standard pedestrian install spec of 4–6 in compacted base + ~1 in bedding sand; driveways and vehicular work go deeper (8–12 in), and that’s a bigger conversation — see the notes on the sources page.

Worked example — a 20 × 5 ft garden path

100 sq ft of 6 × 9 in pavers (0.375 sq ft each): 267 exact, 280 with 5% for cuts. Underneath at a 4 in base: 33.3 ft³ = 1.23 yd³ of base gravel, ≈1.85 tons. Plus a 1 in sand bed: 8.3 ft³ = 0.31 yd³, ~17 × 50 lb bags. Dig out about 4 + 1 + paver thickness (~2.4 in) ≈ 7.4 in deep — and call 811 before the shovel hits the ground.

Setting pavers over a concrete base instead? The concrete calculator handles the slab volume, and the gravel calculator covers bigger aggregate jobs. For the joints, polymeric sand coverage is on the bag — it varies too much by joint width to put a number on here.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate how many pavers I need?

Patio area ÷ paver area. A 10 × 10 ft patio is 100 sq ft; a 12 × 12 in paver is 1 sq ft, so exactly 100 pavers — then add 5% for cuts (105) or ~10% for diagonal/herringbone layouts. For 4 × 8 in pavers (0.22 sq ft each) that same patio is 450 bricks, 473 with cuts. The calculator above does the division for every common size.

How much gravel base and sand do pavers need?

The standard pedestrian spec: 4–6 in of compacted aggregate base plus ~1 in of bedding sand under the pavers (that's the install-guide spec — see sources). On a 100 sq ft patio that's ~1.2–1.9 yd³ of base (1.9–2.8 tons) and ~0.31 yd³ of sand, about 17 × 50 lb bags. The cards above compute all three layers at once.

Does the paver pattern change the count?

Running bond (straight rows) wastes least — the default 5% covers edge cuts. Herringbone, diagonal and basketweave layouts cut more bricks at the borders, so the usual allowance is 10%. Set the waste field to your layout. Circle kits and borders are extra pieces on top — count them separately.

Can pavers go straight on dirt or sand?

Not for anything you want to stay flat — uncompacted soil settles unevenly and sand alone washes out. The base layer (compacted gravel) is what keeps a patio or walk level through freeze-thaw and rain; the ~1 in sand bed is for leveling the bricks, not structure. The excavation depth is roughly base + sand + paver thickness.

How many pavers are on a pallet?

It varies by manufacturer and size — commonly on the order of 100–120 sq ft of coverage per pallet (roughly 100–120 of a 12×12, or ~300+ of a 4×8). Check your supplier's pallet coverage, then divide the paver count above by it. Always order by your area + waste, not by 'a pallet'.

Do I need to call before digging for a patio?

Yes — in the US, call 811 a few business days before digging. It's free, they mark buried utilities, and a patio excavation is exactly the kind of dig the service exists for.