How Many Paver Blocks to Cover an Area?

Paver Size

• Brick pavers, to use them as an example, are produced for two basic installation types, either using a cement mortar between each paver or a sand base with no space between. The mortar based pavers commonly measure 3 5/8 by 7 5/8 inches. Allowing for a 3/8 inch mortar seam, each paver covers a 4-by-8-inch surface or 32 square inches. Pavers installed without mortar in a sand based procedure measure 4 by 8 inches.

Area Size

• Calculating the area of the project is simple if it is a square or rectangle. Multiply the width by the length for the total area. If the width and length are measured in inches, the resulting product is stated in square inches. That can be divided by the individual paver size -- for instance, the brick pavers' 32-square-inch surface -- to get the ideal number of paver blocks for the area.

Odd Shaped Areas

• Most projects can be segmented into a number of squares or rectangles. Measure the length and width of each of these individually and determine the area of each. Add all the segments to determine the total area of the project. You may also need to calculate the perimeter of the project, the distance around the edge of the entire project, if a special type of paver will be used on the outside edge of the project.

Allow for Waste

• It is necessary to cut some of the pavers in most projects. This creates some waste of portions of pavers. For this reason builders should purchase 5 percent more pavers for simple projects and up to 15 percent extra for projects involving complex shapes or curves.