How much sod do I need?
Enter the length and width of the lawn, choose your piece or roll size and set a waste allowance — you'll get the area of sod to buy, the square yards, the number of pieces and how many pallets to order, instantly, in feet or metres.
That's about 473 pieces at 16 × 24 in (2.67 ft²), or roughly 3 pallets.
Includes a 5% waste allowance for cuts at curves, beds and edges. For an irregular or heavily bordered lawn, bump the waste up to about 10%.
Sod = lawn area ÷ piece area, rounded up, plus a waste allowance. Sod is sold by the square foot or square yard and by the pallet; the per-pallet coverage is a typical figure you should confirm with your supplier. Lay it the same day it is delivered and water it in. These are planning figures, not code values.
Common questions
- How much sod do I need?
- Measure the lawn as length × width to get the area, add about 5% for waste, then order that many square feet. A 30 × 40 ft lawn is 1,200 ft²; with a 5% allowance you would buy about 1,260 ft² of sod, which is roughly 140 square yards or about 3 pallets. The calculator above does it for you in feet or metres and converts to pieces and pallets.
- How many pallets of sod do I need?
- Divide the area you are buying (lawn area plus waste) by the area one pallet covers, then round up. A pallet of sod typically covers about 450 ft² (around 50 square yards), so a 1,260 ft² order is roughly 3 pallets. Coverage per pallet varies by grower, so confirm the figure with your supplier — the calculator lets you type in their number.
- How much does a pallet of sod cover?
- A full pallet usually covers about 450 ft² — roughly 50 square yards or about 42 square metres — but it ranges with the grower and the piece size, commonly between 400 and 500 ft². Always check the coverage your supplier quotes, because that is the number you divide your lawn area by to get the pallet count.
- How much extra sod should I buy for waste?
- About 5% extra is enough for a simple rectangular lawn, where the only cuts are at the straight edges. Add more — around 10% — for a lawn with curves, garden beds, paths or trees to cut around, because each curved edge leaves an offcut you usually cannot reuse. It is normal to round up to whole pieces and whole pallets.
- What size is a piece of sod?
- In North America a hand-laid slab is commonly 16 × 24 in (about 2.67 ft²) and a small roll is often 2 × 5 ft (10 ft²); larger jobs come on pallets sold by area. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand sod is rolled and sold by the square metre, with rolls around 610 × 1640 mm (about 1 m²). Piece size varies by grower, so pick the size that matches your supplier in the calculator.
- Do you measure sod by the square foot or the square yard?
- Both — sod is priced by area, and growers in North America often quote a price per square yard (9 ft²) as well as per pallet. Work out the lawn area in square feet, add waste, then divide by 9 to get square yards if that is how your supplier sells. The calculator shows the area to buy in square feet and square yards (or square metres) so you can compare quotes.
Want the full walk-through? Read the sod guide →
Reference & education only. Not professional, engineering, or code-compliance advice. Estimates are based on published model codes; local amendments and your Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) govern. Always verify against the current adopted code and a licensed professional before doing work.
Last reviewed 2026-06.