Sod Coverage Calculator

Sod is sold in rolls or as full pallets. Sizes vary by region but the most common:

• Standard slab: 16 x 24 in = 2.67 sq ft (US north)
• Big roll: 2 ft x 5 ft = 10 sq ft (US south, commercial)
• Small slab: 12 x 24 in = 2 sq ft
• Square meter slab: 1 m x 1 m = 10.76 sq ft (Europe / Australia)

A pallet is sold by the area it covers, not by the piece count. Almost every supplier lands between 400 and 500 sq ft, and the number of pieces on it is whatever that area works out to at their cut size. So a pallet is roughly 170 standard 16 x 24 in slabs, or 45 big 2 x 5 ft rolls, or 225 of the small 12 x 24 in ones. Those are the same pallet three times over.

Worth being careful here, because the piece count is the figure people repeat and it is the one that means nothing on its own. If your supplier tells you 70, ask 70 of what: 70 big rolls is 700 sq ft, and 70 standard slabs is 187. The calculator above shows the coverage your entry implies and says so when it lands outside the normal range.

The formula:

slabs_needed = ceil(area_sqft / slab_sqft x waste_factor) pallets_needed = ceil(slabs_needed / slabs_per_pallet)

Waste factor:

• Square or rectangular lawn: 1.05 (5% waste)
• Curved bed edges or a complex shape: 1.10 to 1.15
• Sloped or irregular terrain: 1.15 to 1.20

Sod is heavy. A standard slab is 30 to 40 lbs wet, so a pallet of 70 slabs is 2,000 to 2,800 lbs. Most suppliers deliver and forklift-drop the pallet curbside; moving it from there is your problem. A wheelbarrow holds 4 to 6 slabs at a time. For lawns over 1,000 sq ft, plan a half-day of installation with two people.

Installation tips:

• Sod must go down within 24 hours of cutting. Heat and stacking kill it fast.
• Soil prep matters more than sod quality. Till to 4 inches, level, and water lightly the night before.
• Stagger the seams like brickwork. Aligned seams show as gaps after a month.
• Water heavily for the first 7 days, then taper. Tug a corner after ten days: if it lifts away cleanly the roots have not taken hold yet, and the answer is more water rather than less.

Cost runs $0.30 to $0.80 per sq ft for sod alone, $1 to $2 per sq ft installed. Premium grass varieties (zoysia, St. Augustine) hit the top of the range; cool-season Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue are at the lower end.

If you have not measured the lawn yet, the Sod Calculator takes a length and a width instead and prices the installation. This page is the one to use when you already know the area, want it in square metres, or need the delivery weight and the number of wheelbarrow trips.