Paver Base Calculator — Base and Bedding Depth by Area

The stone base and bedding course under a patio, walkway or driveway, with the published minimum depth for what it carries.

Showing US units

Stone base to order EXAMPLE6 US tons of dense-graded aggregateand 40 bags (50 lb each) of QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand (ASTM C-33), 0.74 cu yd placed

An answer marked EXAMPLE is worked out from the page’s sample values. Type your own over the values marked SAMPLE to make it yours.

sq ftSAMPLE

The area of the finished paved surface, measured out to the outside edges of the pavers. The bedding course is ordered for this area. The stone base is ordered for this area plus the strip it has to run past any spiked edging, worked out from the edge length below.

ftSAMPLE

Measured from one end of the spiked edging to the other, along the paving edge, every stretch of it added together. Edging of plastic, aluminum, steel or another kind spiked into the base. The base has to run past this edge, so the stone is ordered wider than the paving along it. Leave out edges against a wall, a poured curb or an existing slab — the published distance is for spiked edging only, and nothing is added along those.

It changes nothing in the quantities. It decides which published minimum depth the result quotes for comparison with the depth entered.

inSAMPLE

Measured from the compacted ground under the base to the top of the compacted stone, where the bedding course starts. The finished depth once it has been rolled or plate-compacted, not the depth of the loose stone tipped into the excavation. Set it to zero to price the bedding course on its own.

in

Measured from the top of the compacted base to the top of the screeded bedding, before the pavers go on. A nominal one inch (25.4 mm). This is the loose screeded depth, before the pavers are laid and compacted into it — nothing here reduces the order for that, because the material is bought and screeded loose. Starts at 1 in, the figure the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association publishes for a bedding course screeded loose, as a nominal thickness.

Ask the yard which it quotes. By weight, the stone is weighed at Wisconsin DOT’s figure for its own dense-graded base in place, which a by-weight answer quotes. By volume, the order is the compacted layer times 1.5, from Caltrans’ “Compact cu. yds. = 1.5 X actual yardage”, which this page reads as loose cubic yards; ask the yard whether its cubic yard is measured loose.

Bags for a small job, bulk for a large one. The bag counted is QUIKRETE’s fifty-pound All-Purpose Sand, which QUIKRETE says meets ASTM C33 and prints as half a cubic foot, so a cubic yard is fifty-four of those bags. Another maker’s bag, or another size, holds what its own bag says.

0%

Starts at 0% — this calculator’s own starting point, not a published figure. None of the hardscape or aggregate publishers this calculator cites prints an over-order allowance for base stone or the bedding course, so the calculator adds none rather than invent one. Change it to the margin wanted over the measured quantity.

Stone base to order EXAMPLE6 US tons of dense-graded aggregate

ASTM D2940 grading for dense-graded aggregate, which the hardscape association gives where a city, state or province has no specification of its own; its first choice is the aggregate base specified locally under asphalt pavements. Sourcefor 3.14 cu yd (84.9 cu ft) of stone base, compacted; weighed at Wisconsin DOT’s “1.85 tons per cubic yard”, its figure for its own dense-graded base in place Source

Stone base outside the paving 15 sq ft

Bedding course material 40 bags (50 lb each) of QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand (ASTM C-33), 0.74 cu yd placed

A 240 square foot area against the house, held by 44 feet of spiked edging, on 4 inches of compacted stone and the bedding depth set above. The stone is counted 4 inches wider than the paving along the edging.

Stone base — how the quantity was worked out
The job needs5.8 US tons
Plus 0% for waste5.8 US tons
Buying 6 US tons of dense-graded aggregate covers6.0 US tons
Left over0.2 US tons

The base is the larger delivery and usually the one that decides whether the paving stays flat. Any bedding course is counted on its own line, because it is a different material bought a different way.

Not counted in these quantities: the pavers and the material swept into their joints; the edging and the spikes that hold it; landscape fabric under the stone, where one is used; the base under the small square at each outside corner of the spiked edging.

The stone order is rounded up to the whole ton, or the whole cubic yard when the yard quotes by volume — this calculator’s own choice, not a publisher’s: no yard or agency this calculator cites prints a minimum order or a step for crushed stone.

Stone base, finished and compacted84.9 cu ft

Stone base past the paving edge along spiked edging, each side — from the edge of the pavers out to the edge of the base Source4.00 in

Bedding course, screeded loose20.0 cu ft

Published minimum for this use — stone base Source4.00 in

  • The stone base is counted wider than the paving along the spiked edging, by the strip width shown above: as wide as the base is deep, up to the ceiling of ten inches in the hardscape association’s guide specification for pavers on an aggregate base. The association measures that distance from the spikes that hold the edging, not from the paving edge, and how far the spikes sit from the paving depends on the edging and is printed by its maker, not here — so the strip actually dug may run somewhat wider or narrower than the one counted. Each outside corner also adds a small square that this count leaves out. The bedding course is not widened: the edging sits directly on the compacted base, never on the bedding. Source
  • The order stays in US short tons and cubic yards whichever way the measurements are entered: those are the units the published figures behind it are printed in. In Metric the same order is restated in parentheses, in tonnes or cubic meters, so it can be checked; ask the yard for the US figure. The volumes in the result follow the measurements. Source
  • In a cold climate, or over ground that stays wet or is weak, the association says the base must be thicker — and its current edition deliberately publishes no number for how much thicker, having removed the one its 2020 edition carried. That is a judgment for somebody who can see the ground and knows the frost depth, not for a calculator. Source
  • The stone base above is its compacted volume weighed at 1.85 US tons per cubic yard, the figure Wisconsin DOT’s Standard Specifications use to convert their own dense-graded base, measured in place after compaction, into tons (section 305.4). Because the figure is for compacted stone, nothing is added for compaction. The weight of a cubic yard varies with the rock, so the scale ticket at the quarry governs; with a quarry’s own figure for its stone compacted in place, the compacted volume printed with the order times that figure gives its tonnage. Source
  • A deeper bedding course must not be used to even out a base that is not flat. The unevenness works its way back up through the finished surface over the years. Low spots get filled with base material and compacted, before any of this is screeded. Source
  • The bedding course has to be concrete sand conforming to ASTM C33. Mason sand for mortar must never be used for it, and neither may limestone screenings or stone dust — all three sit a few feet away at the same counter and several of them are cheaper. Source

The printed list carries the area, the length of spiked edging, both depths, and every quantity.

Paver Base Calculator — Base and Bedding Depth by Area

ConcreteTally

EXAMPLE — not a measured job. Every quantity below is worked out from this page’s sample measurements. Enter the real measurements and print it again before anyone orders from it.

Job / customer
Deliver to

Stone base outside the paving: 15 sq ft

What to buy

MaterialBuyWhich isLeft over
Stone base6 US tons of dense-graded aggregate12,000 lb0.2 US tons
ASTM D2940 grading for dense-graded aggregate, which the hardscape association gives where a city, state or province has no specification of its own; its first choice is the aggregate base specified locally under asphalt pavements.for 3.14 cu yd (84.9 cu ft) of stone base, compacted; weighed at Wisconsin DOT’s “1.85 tons per cubic yard”, its figure for its own dense-graded base in place
Bedding course material40 bags (50 lb each) of QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand (ASTM C-33), 0.74 cu yd placed20 cu ft0 cu ft
This calculator’s own choicesThe stone order is rounded up to the whole ton, or the whole cubic yard when the yard quotes by volume — this calculator’s own choice, not a publisher’s: no yard or agency this calculator cites prints a minimum order or a step for crushed stone.

Not counted in these quantities: the pavers and the material swept into their joints; the edging and the spikes that hold it; landscape fabric under the stone, where one is used; the base under the small square at each outside corner of the spiked edging.

Depths on this sheet are the COMPACTED depth of the stone and the SCREEDED LOOSE depth of the bedding course. The stone base is ordered wider than the paving along the spiked edging; the bedding course is not. The bedding material must be concrete sand conforming to ASTM C33 — mason sand, limestone screenings and stone dust are all wrong for it and all sold at the same counter.

Worked out from

Area the pavers will coverThe area of the finished paved surface, measured out to the outside edges of the pavers.240 sq ft (sample)
Edge held by spiked edgingMeasured from one end of the spiked edging to the other, along the paving edge, every stretch of it added together.44 ft (sample)
What it will carryA patio, path or other area walked on
Stone base, after compactionMeasured from the compacted ground under the base to the top of the compacted stone, where the bedding course starts.4 in (sample)
Bedding course, screeded looseMeasured from the top of the compacted base to the top of the screeded bedding, before the pavers go on.1 in
How the stone is quotedBy weight — US tons
How the bedding material is boughtIn bags (50 lb) — QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand
Amount needed — Stone base5.8 US tons
Amount needed — Bedding course material20 cu ft
Extra to order over the measured quantity — Stone basenone — this calculator’s own starting point, not a published figure. None of the hardscape or aggregate publishers this calculator cites prints an over-order allowance for base stone or the bedding course, so the calculator adds none rather than invent one.
Extra to order over the measured quantity — Bedding course materialnone — this calculator’s own starting point, not a published figure. None of the hardscape or aggregate publishers this calculator cites prints an over-order allowance for base stone or the bedding course, so the calculator adds none rather than invent one.

Estimates only — check quantities before you buy. Confirm with your paver or hardscape supplier before ordering.

Where these figures come from

A number in brackets after a figure on this sheet is its entry in this list.

  1. Minimum compacted aggregate base thickness — patio and walkway vs residential driveway (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, section 'SPREADING AND COMPACTING THE SUBBASE AND/OR BASE AGGREGATES', paragraph beginning 'The thickness of the base is determined by traffic', page 4); Why a thicker bedding course is wrong (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, section 'PLACING AND SCREEDING THE BEDDING SAND', first paragraph, page 7); What bedding sand must be, and what it must never be (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, section 'PLACING AND SCREEDING THE BEDDING SAND', opening sentences, page 7); Joint width between pavers (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, section 'PLACING THE CONCRETE PAVERS', joint-width paragraph, page 7); Required base compaction for patios and residential driveways (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, base compaction paragraph following the base-thickness discussion, page 5) — Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA), Trade association publication. Effective from March 1, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
  2. Published minimum aggregate base thickness range by application (Tech Spec 10 Application Guide, 'Aggregate Base' paragraph under the installation guidelines, page 3); What the aggregate base material must be (Tech Spec 10 Application Guide, 'Aggregate Base' paragraph, first two sentences, page 3) — Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI), Trade association publication. Effective from March 1, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
  3. Extra base thickness for cold climates, continually wet soil or weak soil (2020 edition) (ICPI Tech Spec 2, 'Spreading and Compacting the Subbase and/or Base Aggregates', paragraph beginning 'The thickness of the base is determined by traffic', PDF page 5 (bulletin page 4)) — Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI), Trade association publication. Effective from February 1, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
  4. What the stone base is: dense-graded aggregate to ASTM D2940, where no local base specification exists (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, “Spreading and compacting the subbase and/or base aggregates”, first two sentences (page 4), and the title of Table 4 they point to (page 3)); Bedding sand grading — ASTM C33 as tightened for pavers (Tech Note PAV-TEC-002-22, Table 5 'Grading Requirements for Bedding Sand' and its note, page 6) — Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA), Trade association publication. Effective from March 1, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
  5. How far the compacted base runs past edging staked into it (Guide Spec PAV-GSP-011-25 'Pavers on an Aggregate Base', Section 32 14 13, Part 3 Execution, 3.03 Preparation, C. Edge Restraint Preparation, note and subparagraphs 2-3) — Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA), Trade association publication. Effective from August 21, 2025. The document prints "Revised 08-21-2025" in its page footer, and the association's page for it says "Revised 2025". The November 3, 2021 edition printed the same words. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  6. Rule of thumb for how far the base runs past spiked edging (Tech Note PAV-TEC-003-22 'Edge Restraints for Interlocking Concrete Pavements', DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS, second paragraph, page 1) — Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA), Trade association publication. Effective from March 2022. The tech note prints 'Revised March 2022' and no day. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  7. Bedding course thickness and its construction tolerance (Tech Note PAV-TEC-017-22, Table 4 'Recommended Installation Properties for Bedding Sands in Vehicular Applications', row 'Bedding Layer Thickness', page 6) — Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA), Trade association publication. Effective from March 1, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
  8. Screeded bedding sand thickness before the pavers are compacted (Tech Spec 10 Application Guide, 'Bedding Sand' paragraph, page 4) — Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI), Trade association publication. Effective from March 1, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
  9. QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand — weight and volume printed on one 50 lb bag (QUIKRETE package photograph of the 50 lb All-Purpose Sand bag (No. 1152), front panel: the description and list of uses at lower left, the two lines beneath them, and the net weight at lower right) — The Quikrete Companies, LLC, Manufacturer or grower specification. Neither the bag in the photograph nor the product page prints a publication or revision date. Current as of the retrieved date. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  10. Wisconsin DOT volume-to-weight conversion factor for in-place dense-graded aggregate base (Standard Specifications section 305 Dense-Graded Base, subsection 305.4 Measurement, paragraph (2)) — Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Government publication. Effective from November 2024. The specification is headed 'Effective with the November 2024 Letting' and '2025 Standard Specifications'; no calendar day is published. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
  11. Caltrans estimating multipliers for aggregate surfacing, loose versus compact (Appendix, Section 20 'Aggregate per Mile - Aggregate for One Mile Surfacing, For Estimating Shoulder, Base or Surface Material', basis footnote below the table (Page Appen-28)) — California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Division of Maintenance, Government publication. Effective from July 2014. The document is dated July 2014 on its face; no day of month is printed. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
  12. Wisconsin DOT pay units for dense-graded base aggregate (Standard Specifications section 305 Dense-Graded Base, subsection 305.5 Payment, bid item table) — Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Government publication. Effective from November 2024. The specification is headed 'Effective with the November 2024 Letting' and '2025 Standard Specifications'; no calendar day is published. Retrieved October 11, 2026.

This list, with a link to each document: concretetally.com/paver-base-calculator/#sources-heading

Every table ConcreteTally reads, with its dates: concretetally.com/sources

Ask the yard which cubic yard it measures.

Where these figures come from

Every table ConcreteTally reads, with its dates: all sources.