ContractorHandbook

How Many Pavers for a 10x10 Patio?

Pavers to buy

484 pavers

100 sq ft of patio, 4 by 8 in pavers, 6 in compacted base, 1 in bedding sand, ten percent waste.

It does not stop at a number.

When the figures look right, the paver material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.

waste10%patio area, sq ftpaver size plus the joint sets pavers per sq ftarea x pavers per sq ft, plus base stone and bedding sand
The pavers are the visible half of the job and the cheap half of the excavation. Under them sits six inches of compacted base and an inch of bedding sand, and both come off the same area, which is why they are on the material list.

How that number is worked out

These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.

  • Patio length10 ft
  • Patio width10 ft
  • Paver length8 in
  • Paver width4 in
  • Paver thickness2.375 in
  • Joint width0.0625 in
  • Compacted gravel base6 in
  • Bedding sand1 in
  • Waste allowance10 %

Pavers to buy484 pavers

Patio area100 sq ft
One paver covers0.227 sq ftface plus one joint
Pavers per sq ft4.4
Pavers before waste440
Base gravel, compacted1.85 cu yd
Base gravel to order2.22 cu yd20% added for compaction
Base gravel weight3.11 tons
Bedding sand0.31 cu yd834 lb
Polymeric sand, 50 lb bags1100 sq ft per bag
Edge restraint40 ft

The material list this produces

Pavers484
Base gravel, cu yd2
Bedding sand, cu yd0
Polymeric sand, 50 lb bags1
Edge restraint, ft40
Edging spikes40
Geotextile fabric, sq ft110

Patio size compared

Ten feet across, which covers most of the sizes people ask about. Going one step down this table is the cheapest change on the whole project, because the digging, the delivery and the tool rental do not move with it.

Patio sizePavers to buyPatio areaEdge restraint
10 by 8 ft387 pavers80 sq ft36 ft
10 by 10 ft484 pavers100 sq ft40 ft
10 by 12 ft581 pavers120 sq ft44 ft
10 by 16 ft774 pavers160 sq ft52 ft
10 by 20 ft968 pavers200 sq ft60 ft
10 by 24 ft1,161 pavers240 sq ft68 ft

What else matters here

Four hundred and eighty four pavers, and that number is almost entirely a statement about the paver rather than about the patio.

The calculator is set here to a 4 by 8 in paver, the common holland or brick shape, and at that size one paver covers 0.227 sq ft including its joint. Change the paver and the count moves further than any other input on the page can move it. The same 100 sq ft is 431 pavers at 6 by 6 in, 289 at 6 by 9 in, 109 at 12 by 12 in, 73 at 12 by 18 in, 62 at 16 by 16 in and 28 at 24 by 24 in. That is a seventeen to one range, and nothing else on this calculator comes close to it.

It matters for two reasons beyond the count. Small pavers are laid one at a time, so 484 of them is a great deal more bending than 109, and the large formats exist partly for that reason. And pavers are priced per square foot rather than per piece precisely because the piece count is meaningless across sizes, so the count in the box is for ordering and checking a delivery, not for comparing two products. Put the real paver dimensions into the calculator before ordering anything.

What this calculator assumes

  • The joint default is 1/16 of an inch because concrete pavers are cast with spacer nubs on the sides and that is the joint you get when they are set tight. A hand set joint at 1/8 or wider takes noticeably more polymeric sand, so type the joint you are actually laying.
  • Waste is 5 percent for a running bond laid square to the edges, 10 for most patios, and 15 or more for herringbone or a circle kit, because every angled cut throws away most of a paver.
  • Base gravel is quoted compacted. Crushed stone loses about a fifth of its loose volume under a plate compactor, so the order line adds 20 percent back.
  • Four inches of compacted base suits a foot traffic patio on good soil. Six is the common default, and eight to twelve is driveway and heavy clay territory.
  • Polymeric sand is the volume of the joints at the full thickness of the paver, at about 100 pounds per cubic foot.
  • Weights use 2,800 lb per cubic yard for crushed stone and 2,700 for bedding sand.

Questions people ask

How many pavers for a 10x10 patio?

484 at 4 by 8 in, which is the common holland shape. The count depends on the paver: the same 100 sq ft is 109 pavers at 12 by 12 in and 28 at 24 by 24 in.

What area does one paver cover?

0.227 sq ft for a 4 by 8 in paver, counting the face plus one joint. That works out at 4.4 pavers per square foot.

Why are pavers priced by the square foot?

Because the piece count means nothing across sizes. The same patio is 484 pieces in one product and 28 in another, so the only comparable price is per square foot.

Different numbers?

The paver calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.

Other common sizes