Paver base calculator
Calculate the compacted base and the bedding layer under a paver patio or path.
Paver base calculator
Calculate the compacted base and the bedding layer under a paver patio or path.
Enter your dimensions to see how much gravel you need.
Order this much
What this result assumed
How this was calculated
Recent calculations
Saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Results are estimates for planning. Bulk density varies by supplier, moisture and how much the material is compacted, so confirm quantities with your supplier before ordering.
Paver base calculator
Two layers, two materials
A paver installation has a compacted base that carries the load and a thin bedding layer the pavers are set into, and they are not the same material. The base is usually a dense graded crushed stone with fines, because it needs to bind and compact into something solid. The bedding is a coarse washed sand or fine chip, screeded flat and left uncompacted so the pavers can be levelled into it. Calculating them as one layer gets both quantities wrong, so this page treats them separately and totals them.
How deep the base goes
Base depth depends on what the paving will carry and on the ground underneath. A footpath is generally built on less base than a patio, and a patio on less than anything a vehicle will stand on. Soft or poorly draining soil generally calls for more. The stack loaded here is a common starting point, not a rule. Bedding is a different matter: it is normally a thin, consistent layer, and making it deeper to level out a bad base causes the pavers to settle unevenly later.
Ordering the two together
Base stone and bedding sand usually come from the same yard, and both are sold by the ton or the cubic yard. Because the base is much deeper than the bedding, the base dominates the order: on a typical patio it is several times the tonnage. Work out both here, add your allowance, then check the total against the supplier minimum, since a small patio can easily fall under it for the bedding sand even when the base is comfortably above.
Getting the base right before the pavers go down
This page uses layer mode because a paver installation is built from at least two distinct materials stacked on top of each other, a compacted base course and a thin bedding layer the pavers actually rest in, and each one has its own depth and its own compaction requirement. That is different from a single material job like the pea gravel calculator or the crushed stone calculator, where one depth and one material cover the whole footprint. If you are only estimating the pavers themselves rather than what goes underneath them, the paver calculator handles the unit count and pattern waste separately from this base and bedding math. Measuring both layers from the same footprint rather than guessing a base area and a separate bedding area keeps the two numbers consistent, since they should almost always cover the exact same ground.
The base course is the layer doing the structural work, spreading the weight of foot traffic or vehicles over the native soil and keeping the finished surface from settling unevenly over time. It is typically crusher run or a similar graded stone, the same material a gravel driveway's base course uses, compacted in lifts rather than all at once if the depth is substantial, since compacting a thick layer in a single pass often leaves the bottom portion loose even when the top looks firm. Skipping or skimping on this compaction step is one of the more common reasons a paver patio develops low spots or uneven joints within the first couple of seasons.
The bedding layer sits directly on top of the compacted base and is where the pavers themselves actually sit, and it is deliberately shallow and left loose rather than compacted, since compacting it would defeat its purpose of letting the pavers settle into a level plane as they are set and tapped into place. Coarse sand is the traditional bedding material because it screeds to an even, flat layer and drains well, though some installations use a fine, angular stone bedding instead. Either way, the bedding depth is a separate, usually much thinner, number from the base depth above it, and conflating the two is a common source of ordering errors on this type of project. A screed rail set to the bedding depth and dragged across the surface is the usual way installers keep that layer even before any pavers go down, and skipping that step tends to show up later as pavers that sit slightly higher or lower than their neighbors.
Ordering the base stone and the bedding material together from the same supplier trip is usually more efficient than two separate orders, since many suppliers offer a lower combined delivery cost than two single material deliveries on different days. Use this calculator for the base tonnage and keep the sand calculator on hand for the bedding layer if you are using sand, since the two materials have different densities and should not be estimated from the same weight to volume assumption. The guide on compacted versus loose aggregate is worth reading before you order, since it explains why the volume you dig out is not the same as the volume you need to buy once compaction is accounted for.
Edge restraint is the detail that is easy to plan last and regret skipping, since without something holding the perimeter pavers in place, the whole assembly can creep outward under repeated foot traffic, opening gaps at the joints over time. Plastic or metal paver edging staked into the compacted base along the perimeter is the usual solution, installed before the bedding sand goes down rather than after. If your project also involves a large paved area where the overall material count matters as much as the base depth, the guide on estimating paver counts covers that side of the same project in more depth than this base focused page does. Setting the edge restraint before the bedding sand also gives you a fixed reference line to screed against, which is one more reason it belongs earlier in the sequence rather than being added in as a finishing touch once the pavers are already down, and retrofitting edging around a finished patio almost always means lifting at least the border row of pavers back up.
Frequently asked questions
How much base do I need under pavers?
For a 300 square foot patio with a 4 inch compacted base, the base layer alone works out to about 100 cubic feet, or 3.7 cubic yards, which is roughly 5.5 tons of a typical dense graded crushed stone. A 1 inch bedding layer over the same area adds about 25 cubic feet, or 1.25 tons of bedding sand. Enter your own area and depths above for your numbers.
Can I use sand instead of a stone base?
Sand alone does not make a base. It does not bind or compact into a load bearing layer, so pavers set straight onto a deep sand bed tend to move and settle unevenly. Sand belongs as the thin bedding course on top of a properly compacted stone base, which is how this calculator is set up by default.
How much bedding sand do I need for pavers?
A 1 inch bedding layer is standard for most paver installations. For a 300 square foot patio, that works out to about 25 cubic feet or roughly 1.25 tons of bedding sand. The calculator shows the bedding and base separately, since they are different materials at different depths and the base always dominates the order by weight.
Can I skip the sand layer under pavers?
The bedding sand is what lets you level each paver individually during installation, compensating for small variations in the base. Skipping it means setting pavers directly on the compacted stone, which makes levelling much harder and leads to uneven surfaces. For a properly finished paver installation, the thin bedding layer is worth the small extra cost.
What type of sand is used for paver bedding?
Coarse washed sand, sometimes called concrete sand or bedding sand, is the standard choice. Fine sand packs too tightly and does not drain as well. The calculator's default bedding material is a typical bedding sand at around 1.35 tons per cubic yard, but you can change the density if your supplier quotes a different figure.
How deep should the compacted base be under pavers?
Four inches of compacted crusher run is a common starting point for a patio on firm ground, with more depth added for soft or clay soil. A footpath typically needs less base than a patio, and a driveway needs more. The calculator defaults to 4 inches but lets you enter any depth, and the tonnage updates automatically.
What is the difference between the base and the bedding?
The base is a thick layer of compacted crushed stone that carries the load and provides stability. The bedding is a thin layer of coarse sand that the pavers are set into, left uncompacted so each paver can be levelled individually. They serve different purposes, use different materials, and the calculator treats them as two separate layers with their own tonnages.
How many tons of base stone do I need for a 200 square foot patio?
With a 4 inch compacted base, a 200 square foot patio needs about 67 cubic feet or 2.5 cubic yards of base stone, which is roughly 3.7 tons of a typical dense graded crushed stone. Enter your own patio dimensions and base depth above for the exact figure, since both the area and the depth change the tonnage.