Paver base calculator for Texas
The buried layer that decides whether your patio is flat in five years, sized in tons at compacted depth.
Enter your project dimensions
Pavers cost several times more per square foot than the stone under them, and when a patio fails it's nearly always the cheap layer that failed. Every paver callback we hear about starts below the pavers. This paver base calculator sizes that layer: compacted crusher run or similar blend at 1.5 tons per cubic yard, 4 inches under foot traffic, 6-8 under cars, with the +10% compaction allowance on by default. Bedding sand is its own strict 1-inch layer with its own calculator.
Sizing the base
- Measure the paved area in feet, then add 6 inches past the paver edge on every open side. The base has to carry the edge restraint too.
- Compacted depth: 4 inches for patios and walkways, 6 for driveways or clay soil, 8 for driveways on soft ground.
- Cubic feet / 27 = yards, x 1.5 = tons, +10% allowance on.
Excavation depth = base + 1" bedding + paver thickness − reveal
Depth and coverage by project
| Project | Compacted base depth | 1 ton covers |
|---|---|---|
| Walkway or garden path | 4 inches | ≈ 54 sq ft |
| Patio or seating area | 4-6 inches | ≈ 43 sq ft |
| Driveway with cars | 6-8 inches | ≈ 31 sq ft |
| Clay or soft subgrade | add 2 inches + fabric | n/a |
The excavation stack, from grass to finished paver
Dig depth is the sum of the layers. A typical patio: 4 inches of base, 1 inch of bedding sand, a 2 3/8 inch paver, sitting flush with the lawn. That's a 7.5-inch excavation, give or take the reveal you want above grade. Mark it on a stake and check as you dig, because over-digging costs twice: once in hauled-away soil (the Dirt Calculator run in reverse tells you how many yards leave the hole) and again in stone to fill back.
Base habits of installers who don't come back to fix things
- Compact in 2-inch lifts with a plate compactor, misting each lift. Damp base locks tighter than dry.
- Screed the finished base to a 2-3% fall away from the house. The sand and pavers copy whatever the base does.
- Set the edge restraint on compacted base, never on lawn soil. That's what the 6-inch overhang is for.
- On clay, lay woven geotextile under the base. It stops the stone from pressing into the subgrade one wet season at a time.
- Don't substitute a thick sand bed for base depth. Sand moves; that shortcut is where wavy patios come from.
Re-laying old pavers: does the base survive?
Lifting and re-laying an existing patio? The base often lives on. Pull the pavers, rake off the old bedding sand, and inspect: a base that's still flat, hard and well-drained needs only a fresh 1-inch bedding layer, which cuts the stone order to a tenth of a new build. Dips, soft spots or standing water mean the base goes too. Half-measures here repeat the original failure with newer pavers on top.
Worked example: a 16 x 12 patio
Paved area 192 square feet; with the 6-inch overhang on three open sides call the base footprint 210. At 4 inches compacted: 210 x 0.333 = 70 cubic feet = 2.6 cubic yards, about 3.9 tons, 4.3 with the allowance. Order 4.5 tons of crusher run, plus 0.9 tons of bedding sand from the Paver Sand Calculator, in one free delivery. Time the drop for after excavation; a stone pile parked on the lawn for two weeks leaves a dead rectangle.
Base depth, excavation and tonnage questions
How do I figure out how much paver base I need?
Is 2 inches of paver base enough?
How deep should a paver base be?
How deep do I excavate for pavers?
Crusher run or screenings for paver base?
Can I lay pavers without a base?
Related calculators
The pavers get the compliments. The base earns them.
Crusher run and screenings by the ton, free delivery, ordered together with your bedding sand.