Sod calculator
Work out how much sod you need in pallets, slabs or rolls — with a waste allowance for the cutting your shape will actually force, and a cost from your own supplier price.
Order this much sod
6 pallets
866 slabs · 2,310 sq ft including waste
$0.60 per sq ft installed area
Pallets are rounded up — suppliers do not sell part pallets, and the offcuts are what patch the awkward edges. Coverage per pallet varies by farm and by how wet the sod is, so confirm the figure before you order.
The waste allowance is the part people skip
Ordering the exact measured area is how a job ends half a pallet short on a Friday afternoon.
5% — rectangular
A clean rectangle with a straight edge all round. Little cutting, so little offcut.
10% — some curves
Beds, a path, a tree ring or two. Every curve means a cut, and every cut leaves a piece too small to use.
15% — heavily broken up
Islands, tight strips, several separate areas. You will throw a lot away, and it is still cheaper than a second delivery.
Offcuts are not purely waste — they are what you use to patch edges and awkward corners, so the allowance does real work rather than sitting in the skip.
Before the sod arrives
Grade below finished height
Sod adds height. Grade the soil low enough that the finished lawn sits level with paths, drives and door thresholds rather than proud of them — this is the correction nobody wants to make after the fact.
Book delivery for laying day
Sod is perishable stock. Timing the delivery to the morning you lay it is the single biggest thing you control, and it is why a sod job is scheduled differently from a planting job.
Common questions
- How many square feet are in a pallet of sod?
- Usually between 400 and 500 square feet, but it genuinely varies by farm and region — and a pallet cut wet weighs and covers differently from one cut dry. Anyone quoting a single national number is guessing. Ring the supplier, then put their figure into the calculator above.
- How much extra sod should I order?
- Five per cent for a straightforward rectangle, ten if there are beds and curves to cut around, fifteen for a heavily broken-up yard. Running short is far more expensive than the extra pallet, because the second delivery costs you a trip and the colour may not match.
- How do I measure an irregular lawn?
- Break it into rectangles and triangles, work each one out, then add them together. For a triangle it is base times height, halved. Long thin strips along a drive are worth measuring separately rather than folding into a bigger rectangle.
- How much does a pallet of sod weigh?
- Enough to matter for your trailer and your crew. Freshly cut sod holds a lot of water and a full pallet routinely runs well over half a ton — check the weight with your supplier and plan the lift, because this is where people get hurt.
- How soon does sod need to go down?
- The same day it arrives wherever possible, and certainly within 24 hours in warm weather. Sod on a pallet is already dying. If you cannot lay it immediately, keep it in shade and keep it damp.
Pricing the labour as well as the material? Use the pricing calculator to build up from crew hours, overhead and the margin you want to keep.