ContractorHandbook

How Many Pavers for an 8x8 Patio?

Pavers to buy

310 pavers

64 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 length8 ft
  • Patio width8 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 buy310 pavers

Patio area64 sq ft
One paver covers0.227 sq ftface plus one joint
Pavers per sq ft4.4
Pavers before waste282
Base gravel, compacted1.19 cu yd
Base gravel to order1.42 cu yd20% added for compaction
Base gravel weight1.99 tons
Bedding sand0.2 cu yd534 lb
Polymeric sand, 50 lb bags164 sq ft per bag
Edge restraint32 ft

The material list this produces

Pavers310
Base gravel, cu yd1
Bedding sand, cu yd0
Polymeric sand, 50 lb bags1
Edge restraint, ft32
Edging spikes32
Geotextile fabric, sq ft71

Patio size compared

Eight feet across, from a patio to a walk. The paver count follows the area, but the last column follows the perimeter, which is why a long thin eight foot slab pays for so much edging.

Patio sizePavers to buyPatio areaEdge restraint
8 by 8 ft310 pavers64 sq ft32 ft
8 by 10 ft387 pavers80 sq ft36 ft
8 by 12 ft465 pavers96 sq ft40 ft
8 by 16 ft620 pavers128 sq ft48 ft
8 by 20 ft774 pavers160 sq ft56 ft

What else matters here

Three hundred and ten pavers over 64 sq ft, with 32 ft of edge restraint holding them in. That ratio is the thing to notice, because it is the worst on this whole list: half a foot of edging for every square foot of patio.

Edge restraint is what stops the outside course creeping outward, and once the outside course moves the joint sand falls out of it and the course behind follows. It is the single most common reason a patio looks bad in year three, and it is bought by the foot around a perimeter while everything else is bought by the area. Perimeter grows slower than area, so the bigger the patio the less edging it needs per square foot, and 8 by 8 is near the bad end of that curve.

The other question at this size is whether 64 sq ft is the patio you actually want. It seats a small table and two chairs with room to push them back, and it does not seat four chairs and a grill. A patio is dug once, so going from 8 by 8 to 10 by 12 costs 271 more pavers and about one and three quarter tons more gravel, and it costs nothing at all in tool rental, delivery trips or weekends. Look at the table below before deciding the size.

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 an 8x8 patio?

310 pavers at 4 by 8 in over 64 sq ft, including a ten percent waste allowance.

How much edge restraint does an 8x8 patio need?

32 ft, all the way round. Edging is bought by the perimeter while everything else is bought by the area, so a small patio needs the most edging per square foot.

Is an 8x8 patio big enough?

It seats a small table and two chairs with room to move them. It does not take four chairs and a grill. Since the excavation and the tool rental are the same either way, it is worth comparing sizes before digging.

Different numbers?

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

Other common sizes