Paver Patio Base Calculator, Patios to Drives
Dig four inches, put four inches of gravel in, and the patio finishes proud of the back door. The hole has to swallow three layers and the base is only the first. So this paver patio base calculator hands you the tonnage and the dig depth together. Get one right and the other wrong and you are still lifting it.
Your result
What to order
4 tons of crusher run for 192 sq ft of patio or seating area at 4 in compacted
That already includes the 20% compaction allowance, so it is what to buy rather than what ends up in the ground.
- Dig this deep, not just the base depth
- 7.4 in total: 4 in of compacted base, plus 1 in of bedding, plus 2.375 in of paver. Excavating only for the gravel is the most common way a finished patio ends up proud of the doorway it was meant to meet.
- Why the order is bigger than the hole
- 2.37 cubic yards go in the ground at 4 in compacted, but crusher run loses about 20% under a plate, so you buy 2.84 yards, which is 4 tons.
- Compact in lifts
- A plate compactor only works through about 4 in at a time. At 4 in that is 1 passes, laying and compacting each one before the next. Dumping it all in and running the plate over the top compacts the top half and leaves the rest loose.
- How this is worked out
- 192 sq ft × 4" ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = 2.37 yd³ × 1.20 = 2.84 yd³ × 2,800 lb ÷ 2,000 = 4 tons
What is a paver base?
A compacted layer of angular crushed stone between the soil and the pavers, usually crusher run. Angular is the operative word. The pieces are irregular, so under a plate compactor they wedge against each other and stop moving.
It is doing one job: spreading load. A paver on its own concentrates everything you put on it into a few square inches of soil. Six inches of locked stone underneath takes that point load and hands it to the ground as a wide, gentle push the soil can actually carry.
The fines are what make it work, and they are also why it is not a drainage layer. Crusher run has dust mixed through the stone, which is what lets it knit solid. Water is meant to run off the surface and around the base, not down through it. That is why the whole thing gets built with a slight fall.
How much paver patio base do you need
Square feet × depth in inches ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = cubic yards, then add the compaction allowance. A 192 sq ft patio at 4 inches is 2.37 yards in the ground, so you order 2.84 yards, or about 4 tons.
That gap is not padding. Crusher run arrives loose with air through it and loses roughly 20% of its volume once it is properly compacted. Order the finished figure and you finish short of the depth you specified.
| Patio | In the ground | Order loose | Tons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 1.23 yd³ | 1.48 yd³ | 2.1 |
| 200 sq ft | 2.47 yd³ | 2.96 yd³ | 4.1 |
| 300 sq ft | 3.7 yd³ | 4.44 yd³ | 6.2 |
| 500 sq ft | 6.17 yd³ | 7.41 yd³ | 10.4 |
Dig the base wider than the patio while you are at it. Six inches past the paver edge on every side gives the edge restraint something solid to spike into. Without it the outside row creeps outward and the joints open up.
How deep should paver patio base be
Paver patio base depth comes down to two things. What the surface carries, and what is underneath it. Nothing else. Paver thickness does not change the base at all, only how deep you dig.
| Use | Firm, drains well | Clay, soft or freezes | Tons per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walkway or path | 3 in | 4 in | 1.6 to 2.1 |
| Patio or seating area | 4 in | 6 in | 2.1 to 3.1 |
| Fire pit surround | 4 in | 6 in | 2.1 to 3.1 |
| Driveway or parking | 8 in | 12 in | 4.1 to 6.2 |
The jump to a driveway is the one to notice. 8 to 12 inches is double a patio, and it is not negotiable. A car concentrates far more weight through four small contact patches than any furniture ever will.
Frost is the other reason to go deeper. Where the ground freezes and thaws, water held in the soil expands and lifts whatever sits on it. A deeper base puts more free-draining material between the pavers and the part of the ground that moves.
So how do you tell which column you are in? Dig a test hole a spade deep and look at what comes out. Sandy or gritty soil that crumbles is firm ground. Soil that rolls into a sausage in your hand is clay, and clay takes the deeper number.
Most people think depth is the thing to economize on, because it is buried and nobody inspects it. It is the opposite. Every other part of this job can be redone. The base is the one layer that cannot be corrected without lifting everything above it first.
Paver patio base layers, from the subgrade up
Four layers, and each one has a job the others cannot do.
| Layer | Depth | Material | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subgrade | compacted | Native soil | Carries everything. Compact it before anything goes on top |
| Geotextile | optional | Woven fabric | Stops the base sinking into soft soil over the years |
| Base | 4 in | Crusher run | Spreads the load out into the ground |
| Bedding | 1 in | Coarse concrete sand | Seats each paver level. Never a levelling layer |
| Pavers | 2.375 in | Concrete or stone | The surface, and the only part anybody looks at |
Add those up and the hole is 7.4 inches deep, not 4. Measure down from where the finished surface should sit. That is usually an inch below a doorway, falling away from the house.
The geotextile row is worth its twenty dollars on anything but sandy ground. It does not drain and it does not strengthen. It simply keeps the base stone and the soil from mixing, and mixed stone stops being a base.
Notice the bedding row says one inch and nothing else. That course seats the pavers, and it is not there to take out dips in the base. Screed two inches of sand to hide a low spot and the pavers over it sink to match, usually within the first summer.
Each layer also gets compacted before the next goes down, with one exception. The bedding sand is screeded and left alone. Compacting it defeats the point, because the pavers are what set into it and they need it loose enough to bed into.
Stone dust for paver base, and why the trade says no
Search for paver base stone dust and you will find plenty of people recommending it. It is cheap and it screeds beautifully. But use it under pavers and you build the failure in from the start.
The problem is the fines. Stone dust is mostly material fine enough to pass a number 200 sieve. Compact that and it forms a layer water will not go through. So instead of draining away, water sits between the pavers and the dust, and when it freezes it lifts the patio.
The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute writes the specification most of the trade builds to. It says not to use stone dust or screenings for the bedding course. It calls for washed concrete sand instead, screeded one inch to an inch and a half.
So what should go where? Crusher run for the base, because the fines in it are the point and it is meant to lock solid rather than drain. Washed concrete sand for the bedding, because it stays open and lets water through to the base. Stone dust does neither job well enough to be worth the saving.
What paver patio base costs
$30 to $60 a ton for crusher run, with most yards near $45. The 192 sq ft example runs about $179 of stone before delivery.
| Patio | 4 in | 6 in | 8 in drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | $93 | $140 | $187 |
| 200 sq ft | $187 | $280 | $373 |
| 300 sq ft | $280 | $420 | $560 |
| 500 sq ft | $467 | $700 | $933 |
Delivery is the part that moves the total. Most yards charge per load rather than per ton. So a small patio pays nearly as much to get the stone delivered as it pays for the stone itself. Order the base and the bedding sand on one trip and it usually beats two deliveries a week apart.
And hiring a plate compactor for a day costs less than most people expect, around $60 to $90. Skipping it is the single most expensive saving on this whole page, because an uncompacted base settles unevenly and the only fix is lifting the patio.
How to use this paver patio base calculator
Enter the area first. Add a second one if the patio wraps, or if there is a path off it. Circles are in there for fire pit rings, which get measured across rather than squared off.
Then pick what it carries. That single choice moves the depth more than anything else, and the driveway option roughly doubles the order against a patio of the same size.
The ground toggle is the honest guess. Firm and free-draining takes the lower figure, and clay, made ground or anywhere that freezes hard takes the higher one. When you genuinely cannot tell, go deeper. Extra base is cheap and lifting a settled patio is not.
Paver thickness changes only the dig depth. It is there because that is the number people get wrong, and the result panel gives it separately from the base so the two never get confused.
One thing worth doing before you order anything. Drive a stake at the house and another at the far edge, run a string between them, and check the fall. A patio wants about a quarter inch of drop per foot away from the building. Far easier to build that in now than to discover you needed it later.
Paver base questions
How deep should paver base be for patio?
4 inches compacted on firm ground that drains, 6 on clay or anywhere the ground freezes. That is the base alone. The hole itself goes 7.4 inches down once you add the bedding course and the thickness of the paver.
How thick should paver base be for walkway?
3 to 4 inches, so a little less than a patio. Nothing parks on a path, and the loads are lighter. It still wants the same compaction in lifts, because a thin base done badly moves more than a thick one.
How much paver base for fire pit?
Treat the ring like a small patio: 4 to 6 inches of compacted base, sized on the circle rather than a square. Heat is not a factor. The fire never reaches the gravel, so the base is the same as the seating area around it.
How much base for paver patio?
A 192 sq ft patio at 4 inches needs about 4 tons of crusher run. That is 2.84 cubic yards ordered against 2.37 in the ground, because the stone loses roughly 20% under a plate.
Can you use stone dust for paver base?
No, and the industry guidance is explicit about it. Stone dust carries too many fines, so once compacted it forms a layer water cannot pass through. That traps water under the pavers instead of draining it away, which is what causes heaving.
How much sand for paver base?
One inch of coarse washed concrete sand, screeded flat, and no more. It is a setting bed rather than a levelling layer. Sizing it is a separate job from the gravel, so the paver sand calculator handles it against your area.
What gravel is best for a paver base?
Crusher run, also sold as dense grade, QP or 21A depending where you are. It is angular stone mixed with fines, so it locks together and compacts hard. Clean washed stone with no fines will not knit, and it stays loose underfoot.
How deep to dig for a paver patio?
Base depth plus one inch of bedding plus the paver thickness. For a standard standard paver, 60 mm on a 4 inch base that is 7.4 inches. Measure down from the finished height you want, not from the ground you are standing on.