How to Calculate Paver Base
- 1). Mark out the area where you intend to lay your pavers using marking paint or wooden stakes and twine or string. Mark out the exact shape.
- 2). Measure the length and width of the marked out area to find the square footage. For a square or rectangular area, multiply the length by the width: for example, 10 feet long by 20 feet wide equals 200 square feet. For a circular area, measure the distance from one side to the other and divide by two. Multiply that number by itself and then by 3.14: for example, for a circle that is 20 feet across, multiple 10 by 3.14 to get 31.4 square feet.
- 3). Divide the square footage by three and add that number to the square footage. For example, if your measurement came to 90 square feet, divide 90 by three to get 30 square feet. Add that 30 to the 90 square footage calculation to get a total of 120 square feet. A paver base must be at least 4 inches deep over the entire area. Adding one-third more material will ensure you have enough material for the paver base to be four inches deep.
- 4). Add an extra 5 to 10 square feet to the measurement to allow for curves or other uneven areas. Few areas are exact squares, rectangles or circles, and this extra material will ensure you have enough paver base material to complete your project.
- 5). Check the bags of paver base material to find out how much space a single bag will cover; most will also indicate the depth it will cover. For example, a 50-pound bag of material may cover 100 square feet to one inch deep. So to cover a 130 square foot area to four inches deep, you would need almost four full bags of material. It is better to have a little extra than not enough.
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