How Much Paver Base and Sand Do I Need? Chart by Size

For a patio or walkway, plan on 4–6 in of compacted gravel base and 1 in of bedding sand under the pavers. A 10 × 10 ft patio takes about 1.48 cu yd of base (about 2 tons, or 80 bags of 50 lb) and 0.37 cu yd of sand (20 bags) at a 4 in base. In metric, a 100 mm base under 10 m² is about 1.2 m³. The charts below cover patios, paths and driveways in both units.

The numbers include 20% extra on both layers, because loose gravel and sand pack down when you compact them. They come from the same code as our paver calculator, which also counts the pavers.

What goes under pavers?

A paver patio is a stack of layers, and each one has a job:

Compacted subgrade. The soil you dig down to, firmed with a plate compactor.
Aggregate base. Crushed stone with a range of particle sizes, from about ¾ in down to dust, laid and compacted in layers. It carries the load and drains water. It's sold as paver base, road base, crusher run, dense grade aggregate, or Type 1 in the UK, depending on where you live.
Bedding sand. A thin, even layer of coarse, washed sand that the pavers are set into. It isn't structural; it lets you set each paver at exactly the right height.
Pavers and joint sand. The pavers go down, get vibrated into the bedding sand, and the joints are filled, often with polymeric sand.

Most of the material you buy is the base. The sand layer is only an inch, so it's a small order by comparison.

How thick should the base and sand be?

ICPI, the North American concrete paver industry body, recommends a minimum aggregate base of 4 to 6 in (100–150 mm) for walks, 6 to 8 in (150–200 mm) for driveways and 8 to 12 in for streets. Nicolock, a paver maker, gives the same 4–6 in for patios and walkways and 8–12 in for driveways and parking areas, and says poor drainage or weak soil may need more. For the bedding sand, ICPI says to screed it to 1 to 1½ in (25–40 mm), uncompacted, at an even thickness.

Recommended layer thickness
Use	Compacted base	Bedding sand
Walkway, path, patio	4–6 in (100–150 mm)	1–1½ in (25–40 mm)
Patio on clay or wet ground	6 in (150 mm) or more	1–1½ in (25–40 mm)
Residential driveway	6–8 in (ICPI) or 8–12 in (Nicolock)	1–1½ in (25–40 mm)

Don't make the sand layer thicker to save on gravel. A thick sand bed moves under load and the pavers sink in ruts. Level the base properly, then use an even 1 in of sand.

How much paver base for a patio?

Gravel base for common patio and walkway sizes, at 4 in and 6 in deep, with 20% added for compaction. Weights use 1.6 tonnes per m³, about 1.35 US tons per cubic yard; ask your supplier for their figure if you're buying by weight.

Gravel base and bedding sand for a patio (US)
Patio area	Base at 4 in	Base at 6 in	Sand at 1 in
50 sq ft	0.74 cu yd (1 t)	1.11 cu yd (1.5 t)	0.19 cu yd
100 sq ft	1.48 cu yd (2 t)	2.22 cu yd (3 t)	0.37 cu yd
144 sq ft	2.13 cu yd (2.9 t)	3.2 cu yd (4.3 t)	0.53 cu yd
200 sq ft	2.96 cu yd (4 t)	4.44 cu yd (6 t)	0.74 cu yd
300 sq ft	4.44 cu yd (6 t)	6.67 cu yd (9 t)	1.11 cu yd
400 sq ft	5.93 cu yd (8 t)	8.89 cu yd (12 t)	1.48 cu yd
600 sq ft	8.89 cu yd (12 t)	13.33 cu yd (18 t)	2.22 cu yd

A 12 × 12 ft patio is 144 sq ft and a 12 × 16 ft patio is 192 sq ft; for odd shapes, add up the rectangles or use the calculator, which takes several areas.

How many bags of paver base do I need?

Bagged paver base, all-purpose gravel and paver sand from Quikrete are each sold in 50 lb bags of 0.5 cu ft. That makes 54 bags to a cubic yard. Bags with 20% for compaction:

50 lb bags (0.5 cu ft) of base and sand
Patio area	Base bags at 4 in	Base bags at 6 in	Sand bags at 1 in
50 sq ft	40	60	10
100 sq ft	80	120	20
144 sq ft	116	173	29
200 sq ft	160	240	40

Bags make sense for a small landing, a path or a 50 sq ft pad. By about 100 sq ft, you're carrying more than 80 bags (over 2 tons by hand), and a bulk delivery of road base or crusher run by the yard or ton is usually cheaper and much less lifting.

Metric: base and sand by area

For the UK, Canada and Australia, at 100 mm and 150 mm of base and 30 mm of bedding sand, with the same 20% compaction allowance:

Base and bedding sand for a patio (metric)
Area	Base at 100 mm	Base at 150 mm	Sand at 30 mm
5 m²	0.6 m³ (1 t)	0.9 m³ (1.4 t)	0.18 m³ (0.29 t)
10 m²	1.2 m³ (1.9 t)	1.8 m³ (2.9 t)	0.36 m³ (0.58 t)
15 m²	1.8 m³ (2.9 t)	2.7 m³ (4.3 t)	0.54 m³ (0.86 t)
20 m²	2.4 m³ (3.8 t)	3.6 m³ (5.8 t)	0.72 m³ (1.15 t)
30 m²	3.6 m³ (5.8 t)	5.4 m³ (8.6 t)	1.08 m³ (1.73 t)
50 m²	6 m³ (9.6 t)	9 m³ (14.4 t)	1.8 m³ (2.88 t)

UK builders' merchants sell Type 1 sub-base and sharp sand in bulk bags of about 850 kg, so a 15 m² patio at 100 mm (2.9 tonnes of base) takes about 4 bulk bags. In Australia, road base or crusher dust is the usual base, ordered by the tonne or cubic metre.

Paver base for a driveway

Driveways carry cars, so the base gets much deeper. ICPI says 6–8 in for residential driveways, and Nicolock says 8–12 in. The paver should be thicker too (see paver sizes).

Gravel base for a paver driveway, with 20% for compaction
Driveway area	6 in	8 in	12 in
200 sq ft	4.4 cu yd	5.9 cu yd	8.9 cu yd
400 sq ft	8.9 cu yd	11.9 cu yd	17.8 cu yd
600 sq ft	13.3 cu yd	17.8 cu yd	26.7 cu yd

For a driveway, lay and compact the base in layers. ICPI says lifts are typically 4 to 6 in, so an 8 in base goes down as two layers, each compacted before the next.

Why add 20% for compaction?

Gravel arrives loose and fluffed up. When you run a plate compactor over it, the stones lock together and the layer gets thinner. To end up with 4 in of firm base, you have to spread more than 4 in of loose stone. How much more depends on the stone and how well you compact it; 20% is our default, and you can change it in the calculator to match your supplier's advice.

The same goes for bedding sand: it settles as the pavers are vibrated in, so the sand line includes the allowance too.

How deep do I need to dig?

Add up the layers: base + sand + paver thickness. For a patio with a 4 in base, 1 in of sand and 2⅜ in (60 mm) pavers, the dig is about 7.4 in below the finished height. Allow a little more where you want the patio to sit lower than a door threshold. Most patios also need a gentle fall away from the house for drainage; ICPI suggests a crossfall of at least 2% on pavements.

That dig produces spoil. For a 12 × 16 ft patio dug 7.4 in deep, that's about 4.4 cu yd of soil to move, more once it's loose. Plan where it goes before the gravel arrives.

Worked example: a 12 × 16 ft patio

Area: 12 × 16 = 192 sq ft.
Base: 4 in = 0.333 ft. 192 × 0.333 = 64 cu ft.
Add 20% for compaction: 64 × 1.2 = 76.8 cu ft.
In cubic yards: 76.8 ÷ 27 = 2.84, so order 3 cu yd of base, about 3.8 tons.
Sand: 192 × (1 ÷ 12) × 1.2 = 19.2 cu ft, which is 0.71 cu yd or 39 bags of 50 lb.
Pavers: 825 Holland-size 4 × 8 in pavers before cuts, 867 with 5% for cutting.

Can I use sand instead of gravel for the base?

No. Sand on its own doesn't lock together and drain the way a graded crushed stone does, so a sand-only base lets pavers rock and sink. The sand layer is there for setting the pavers to height, not for strength. ICPI and the paver makers all specify a compacted aggregate base under the bedding sand.

Fine crushed rock such as crusher dust or stone dust is a different case: it's sometimes used as a base or bedding layer, and the advice varies by region. Our crusher dust guide covers it.

Common mistakes

Ordering the finished volume. 4 in of compacted base needs about 5 in of loose stone. Without the allowance you run short halfway across the patio.
Too much sand. Thick sand beds make soft, rutted patios. Keep it to about 1 in and fix low spots in the base, not the sand.
Compacting it all in one go. Thick bases need layers, each compacted, or the bottom never firms up.
Stopping the base at the paver edge. The edge restraint needs firm ground to sit on, so the base usually runs a little past the pavers. Check your paver maker's guide for how far.
Forgetting the joint sand. Bedding sand and joint sand are different products. Work out the joints separately with the polymeric sand calculator.

Ready to work out your own patio? The paver calculator gives the pavers, base and sand together for any size and shape.