The paver count comes straight from one number: the standard 4 x 8 inch brick paver covers 32 square inches, so it takes 4.5 of them per square foot. Multiply your patio area by 4.5, add waste for the cuts, and you have the order. A 100 square foot patio needs about 495 pavers with 10 percent waste included.
Here is the per-square-foot figure for every common size, the counts by patio size, and why the laying pattern changes how much extra to buy.
Pavers per square foot, by size
Divide 144 square inches by the paver's face area. Then multiply your patio area by this figure:
| Paver size | Face area | Pavers per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| 4 x 8 in (brick) | 32 sq in | 4.5 |
| 6 x 6 in | 36 sq in | 4.0 |
| 6 x 9 in | 54 sq in | 2.67 |
| 12 x 12 in | 144 sq in | 1.0 |
| 16 x 16 in | 256 sq in | 0.56 |
These counts are for pavers laid tight, before waste. The 12 x 12 slab is the easy one to picture: one per square foot exactly. The 4 x 8 brick takes four and a half, which is why it dominates the total on a patterned patio.
The paver calculator runs your exact dimensions and paver size, then adds the two base layers people forget to price: the compacted gravel and the bedding sand underneath.
Pavers by patio size
Each row uses 4 x 8 inch brick pavers with 10 percent waste, the usual choice for a running-bond or herringbone patio:
| Patio size | Area | Pavers to buy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 x 20 ft (walkway) | 60 sq ft | 297 |
| 10 x 10 ft | 100 sq ft | 495 |
| 12 x 12 ft | 144 sq ft | 713 |
| 12 x 16 ft | 192 sq ft | 951 |
| 16 x 20 ft | 320 sq ft | 1,584 |
Swapping to a larger paver drops these counts sharply. The same 12 x 16 patio in 12 x 12 slabs needs about 211 pavers instead of 951, though large-format pavers are less forgiving of a base that is not dead flat.
How the pattern changes your waste factor
The per-square-foot count is fixed by geometry, but the pattern decides how many pavers you cut and throw away at the edges. Buy the waste in with the order, because dye lots shift between batches and a late top-up rarely matches.
- Running bond or stack bond: 5 percent. Straight courses with cuts only along two edges. The offcuts from one edge often start the next row, so little is truly wasted.
- Herringbone: 10 percent. Every edge is a diagonal cut, and the triangular offcuts are mostly scrap. This is the standard pattern for driveways because it locks against shifting, and it is why 10 percent is the common default.
- Diagonal or 45 degree layouts: 10 to 15 percent. The whole perimeter is angled cuts, so waste climbs regardless of the base pattern.
- Circles, curves, and fans: 15 percent or more. Curved edges mean custom cuts on nearly every border piece, and specialty circle kits are sold by the ring rather than by area.
Order it all in one batch
Whatever the count, buy the full amount at once. Pavers are pigmented in production runs, and two pallets bought weeks apart can differ enough to show as a visible seam across a finished patio. Buying the waste up front is also cheaper than a second delivery for the fifty pieces you came up short.
One number the paver count does not include: the edge restraint. Without it, the outer pavers migrate and the joints open within a season, no matter how carefully the field was laid.
Planning the layers under the pavers? The paver patio base guide walks through the gravel and sand quantities in order, and the gravel calculator sizes the base itself.