Paver Base Calculator
Calculate gravel and base material needed for a patio or walkway paver project.
Enter the area dimensions and base depth to find cubic yards and tons required.
A solid paver installation depends almost entirely on what is beneath the pavers, not the pavers themselves. Frost heave, settling, and cracking trace back to an inadequate or uncompacted base layer in nearly every case.
Volume = Length × Width × Depth
The standard recommendations by paver application:
- Pedestrian patios and walkways: 4 inches of compacted crushed stone base
- Driveways (passenger vehicles): 6 inches minimum, 8 inches preferred
- Heavy vehicle areas: 10-12 inches
- Plus 1 inch of bedding sand on top of the base (not included in this calculator — add it separately)
After compaction, crushed stone loses about 20-30% of its loose volume. This calculator adds a 25% compaction factor to ensure you order enough.
The base material is typically:
- Crushed stone (¾ inch minus, also called “crusher run” or “road base”): compacts well, good drainage
- Compacted gravel: similar to crushed stone but less angular — harder to compact tightly
- Class 2 base: a specific grading used in California and some western states
Weight of crushed stone: approximately 1.35-1.50 tons per cubic yard (compacted). This calculator uses 1.4 tons per cubic yard as the standard estimate.
For large projects, order in tons and ask the supplier for a compaction factor to adjust your estimate to their specific material.
The bedding sand layer (1 inch) should be concrete sand (not play sand). Calculate it separately as: Length × Width × (1/12) cubic feet, divided by 27 for cubic yards.