Sod Calculator
Estimate sod for a new lawn from the area and a waste allowance. Get the square footage to order, the number of slabs or rolls, and the pallet count — with piece and pallet sizes you can set to match your supplier.
For irregular lawns, split into rectangles and total them, or use total area.
A 16×24 in slab is ~2.67 ft²; pallets often cover ~400–500 ft². Confirm with your sod farm.
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Formula & how it works
Area to cover = lawn area × (1 + waste). Square yards = ÷ 9.
Slabs = area ÷ coverage per slab, and pallets = area ÷ coverage per pallet, both rounded up.
Worked example
A 40 × 30 ft lawn is 1,200 ft². Add 5% for edge cuts and you're covering 1,260 ft² — about 140 square yards. At 2.67 ft² per slab that's roughly 472 slabs, or 3 pallets at 450 ft² each. Order to arrive on install day.
Ordering sod
Waste follows the shape
A plain rectangle needs only a little extra for trimming, but lawns with garden beds, curved borders, trees, and paths force many angled cuts, and the offcuts rarely fit elsewhere. Five percent is a safe minimum; go higher for a cut-up yard so you're not driving back for one more pallet mid-install.
Slabs, rolls, and pallets vary
Sod farms sell differently — small hand slabs around 16 by 24 inches, big rolls that cover much more each, and pallets that might hold 400, 450, or 500 square feet. Those numbers change your piece and pallet counts directly, so confirm them with your supplier and enter the real coverage rather than assuming.
Fresh sod is perishable
Unlike most landscape materials, sod is alive and degrades fast on the pallet, especially in heat. Schedule delivery for the day you'll lay it, prep and water the soil beforehand, and install quickly. A modest surplus protects against coming up short, but don't over-order sod you can't lay in time.