Sod Calculator
Find out how much sod your lawn needs — square feet with cutting waste, full pallets for delivery, or individual rolls for small patches.
How much sod do I need?
Sod is living carpet: it is sold by area but handled in pieces — rolls you carry, or pallets a truck drops. The count is your lawn area plus an allowance for the cuts around edges, trees and paths, because a lawn's outline is never the clean rectangle the pallet assumes.
Pallets = area (with waste) ÷ 450 sq ft · Rolls = area (with waste) ÷ 10 sq ft per roll
Example: a 40 × 25 ft lawn is 1,000 sq ft. With the 10% cutting allowance that is 1,100 sq ft to buy — 3 pallets, or 110 individual rolls of the standard 2 × 5 ft size.
Pallets or rolls?
| Order size | Sensible buy |
|---|
| Under ~100 sq ft (patches, repairs) | Individual rolls from the garden centre, same day |
| 100–450 sq ft | Rolls, or a single pallet if delivery is cheap |
| Over 450 sq ft | Pallets, delivered — the price per sq ft drops hard |
A standard pallet covers about 450 sq ft (some farms stack 500–600 — confirm your farm's figure and adjust: pallets = area ÷ their coverage). Sod is perishable in a way no other material on this site is: it should be laid the day it arrives, on prepared, level soil — topsoil first if the grade needs building, using the topsoil calculator for that volume — and watered in immediately. Palletised sod left stacked in summer heat cooks from the inside; do not let a delivery land days before you can lay it.
Frequently asked questions
How many rolls of sod are on a pallet?
At the standard sizes here — 450 sq ft per pallet, 10 sq ft per roll — about 45 rolls. Farms cut different roll sizes (some are 9 sq ft, some big rolls are far larger), so if your supplier quotes a different pallet coverage, their number governs the pallet count.
How much waste should I allow for sod?
5% is enough for a clean rectangle; 10% is the honest default for a real lawn with edges and curves; an intricate garden with beds and paths can eat 15%. Sod is one material where a spare roll or two quietly becomes a repair kit for the first season.
When is the best time to lay sod?
Spring and early autumn in most climates — roots establish before summer heat or winter freeze. It can be laid in summer with serious watering, and in warm-winter regions almost year-round. Never onto frozen or muddy ground.
Do I need topsoil under new sod?
If the existing grade is level and the soil is decent, a thin top-up is enough. For a new lawn over subsoil or a badly uneven yard, lay 2–4 inches of topsoil first and roll it level — sod telegraphs every bump underneath it within a season.
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