ContractorHandbook

How Many Pavers for a 300 Square Foot Patio?

Pavers to buy

1,451 pavers

300 sq ft of patio, typed 20 by 15, 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 length20 ft
  • Patio width15 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 buy1,451 pavers

Patio area300 sq ft
One paver covers0.227 sq ftface plus one joint
Pavers per sq ft4.4
Pavers before waste1,319
Base gravel, compacted5.56 cu yd
Base gravel to order6.67 cu yd20% added for compaction
Base gravel weight9.33 tons
Bedding sand0.93 cu yd2,500 lb
Polymeric sand, 50 lb bags3100 sq ft per bag
Edge restraint70 ft

The material list this produces

Pavers1,451
Base gravel, cu yd7
Bedding sand, cu yd1
Polymeric sand, 50 lb bags3
Edge restraint, ft70
Edging spikes70
Geotextile fabric, sq ft330

Patio size compared

Fifteen feet across. The first column is the area, and it rises in step with the pavers because every row on this calculator comes off the area except the last one, which comes off the perimeter.

Patio sizePavers to buyPatio areaEdge restraint
15 by 12 ft871 pavers180 sq ft54 ft
15 by 15 ft1,089 pavers225 sq ft60 ft
15 by 20 ft1,451 pavers300 sq ft70 ft
15 by 25 ft1,814 pavers375 sq ft80 ft
15 by 30 ft2,177 pavers450 sq ft90 ft

What else matters here

One thousand four hundred and fifty one pavers, 6.67 cu yd of gravel to order and 9.33 tons on the ground. The number nobody plans for on a patio this size is not any of those. It is the hole.

Add up what goes in it: a 6 in compacted base, an inch of bedding sand and the paver itself, which on a standard patio paver is a shade under two and a half inches. That is about nine and a half inches of excavation across the whole 300 sq ft before a single paver is laid, and the finished surface has to come out flush with whatever it meets, so the depth is not adjustable downward without losing base.

Nine and a half inches over 300 sq ft is roughly nine cubic yards of soil, which is more material coming out than gravel going in, and it is heavier and wetter. It will not fit in a corner of the garden and a skip that size is a booking rather than an afternoon decision. Work out where the spoil goes before the digging starts, not after, and if any of it is being kept on site for leveling elsewhere, put it somewhere the gravel delivery will not be dumped on top of it.

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 300 square foot patio?

1,451 pavers at 4 by 8 in, including a ten percent waste allowance. The bare coverage is 1,319.

How deep do you dig for a paver patio?

About nine and a half inches for this build: a 6 in compacted base, 1 in of bedding sand and the paver thickness on top, so the finished surface lands flush with what it meets.

How much soil comes out of a 300 square foot patio?

Roughly nine cubic yards, which is more material out than gravel in, and heavier because it is wet. Decide where it goes before the digging starts.

Different numbers?

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

Other common sizes