Plan every paver before you break ground

What this paver planner does

BuildPlot’s Paver Layout Planner turns a few project measurements into an actual piece-by-piece layout. Enter a rectangular or L-shaped patio, select a common paver size or add a custom size, choose one of five established laying patterns, and adjust the joint width. The preview then draws every full and cut paver inside the boundary instead of showing a decorative pattern swatch.

The result connects design decisions with material quantities. You can compare Running Bond, Stack Bond, Basketweave, 90-degree Herringbone and 45-degree Herringbone without rebuilding a spreadsheet. The summary separates whole pavers, edge cuts, geometric waste and the extra purchase allowance you choose. It also estimates aggregate base, bedding sand and polymeric joint sand so the first materials conversation is grounded in one plan.

How the layout calculation works

All dimensions are converted to millimetres inside the browser. The selected pattern creates individual paver rectangles with the requested joint spacing. Each rectangle is intersected with the patio boundary. A piece completely inside the patio is recorded as whole; a piece that crosses an edge is clipped to the usable polygon and recorded as cut. The removed area contributes to calculated geometric waste.

This approach is different from dividing patio area by paver area. Area division gives a useful minimum, but it cannot describe where cuts occur or how orientation changes the edge condition. The planner’s geometry also makes the downloaded SVG a real layout: it contains the shapes shown on screen and can be scaled without losing detail.

A practical example

For a 12 by 20 foot patio with 4 by 8 inch pavers, begin with a one-eighth inch joint and Running Bond. Review the whole and cut counts, then switch to 45-degree Herringbone. The patio area is unchanged, but the diagonal layout crosses more boundary edges, so the cut count and geometric waste usually rise. That comparison helps you decide whether the visual effect is worth the additional cutting effort and purchase buffer.

The recommended purchase quantity applies 5, 10 or 15 percent to the number of pavers touched by the layout. This safety allowance is intentionally separate from the edge material discarded by the geometry. Breakage, shade selection, handling damage and future repairs are reasons to buy extra even when a layout is efficient.

Using the plan on site

Download the SVG when you want a scalable drawing and the PDF when you want a three-page handoff with project summary, layout and material list. The project settings are also stored in the URL hash. Copying the link preserves the inputs without creating a public database record or a crawlable duplicate page. The latest project is saved only in your browser.

The current planner supports rectangular and L-shaped patios with straight edges. Supported shapes are an outer rectangle, plus an optional screen-bottom-right cutout for an L-shape. Current limitations: it does not optimize offcut reuse, draw curves, create arbitrary polygons, estimate labor, or replace an installer’s site survey. A cut paver is counted as one purchased paver even when part of it is discarded. Always compare the plan with product-specific laying instructions and local construction requirements.

Measure before you commit

A geometry model is only as reliable as its inputs. Measure finished outside edges rather than relying on an early sketch, and check both ends of a patio that may be out of square. Confirm the actual face size of the chosen paver, because nominal product names can differ from manufactured dimensions. Decide whether the listed dimension assumes a spacer lug or joint. Finally, review drainage direction and fixed objects with the installer before treating any exported edge cut as final. Updating these measurements in the planner takes seconds and is more useful than adding an arbitrary percentage to an uncertain area.