How Much Base Do You Need Under Pavers?

A patio or walkway needs 4–6 in of compacted gravel base plus 1 in of bedding sand. Driveways need 6–8 in of base.

Updated October 7, 2026

The Layers

From the top down, here’s a typical sand-set paver patio:

Depths are from This Old House and The Home Depot’s installation guides. The base does the real work; the sand is just a leveling bed.

How Deep to Dig

Add up the layers: for a patio that’s about 4–6 in of base, 1 in of sand, and the paver thickness, so This Old House puts total excavation at 6–8 in for walkways and patios and 8–12 in for driveways. The whole patio should slope away from the house so water drains: The Home Depot suggests about 1 in of drop every 8 ft.

Run the Base Past the Edges

The base should be wider than the patio. Oklahoma State University’s paver spec extends it at least 6 in past the pavers on every side, so the edge pavers and edge restraint sit on solid ground instead of soft soil.

How Much Base Gravel to Buy

Cubic yards of base = base area in square feet × base depth in inches ÷ 324

Here the base area includes the 6 in margin. Then multiply by about 1.4 tons per yard.

Example. A 12 × 10 ft patio grows to about 143 sq ft once the base runs 6 in past each edge (13 × 11 ft, with rounded corners). At 4 in deep that’s 1.76 cubic yards, or about 2.5 tons of base. Bedding sand is 1 in over the patio itself: 120 sq ft ÷ 12 = 10 cubic feet.

Compact the base in layers rather than all at once, with a plate compactor, dampening it as you go.

Joint Sand

Polymeric sand locks the joints once it’s wetted. For standard pavers with narrow joints (⅛–⅜ in), Alliance Gator rates a 50 lb bag at about 65–85 sq ft.

The paver calculator works out pavers, base, sand, joint sand, and edging for any patio shape.