How many rolls of sod do I need?

Lawn area plus waste, divided by one roll. A 40 × 25 ft lawn is 1,000 ft²; with 5% waste that is 1,050 ft², and at 10 ft² a roll (2 × 5 ft) that is 105 rolls. In metric, a 12 × 8 m lawn is 96 m², 100.8 m² with waste — 101 rolls of 1 m².

How much sod is on a pallet?

It depends on the farm and the cut — pallets are often somewhere around 400–500 ft² (about 37–46 m²). Ask your supplier for their number and type it in; the tool splits the order into full pallets and loose rolls.

How much extra sod should I order?

About 5% for a plain rectangle — the default. Go to 10% for curved edges, lots of beds, trees or a narrow strip where every roll is cut. Sod does not keep, so there is no point in a big margin.

How long does sod keep once delivered?

Not long — rolls heat up and yellow on the pallet, especially in warm weather. Plan to lay it the day it arrives, and order in batches you can lay and water that day on a big job.

Sod calculator

Area arithmetic: the lawn area you describe, plus your waste, divided by the roll and pallet sizes you type. It does not know your farm’s roll size or pallet count — confirm both with the supplier before you order.

Type the lawn size and any extra areas, the roll or slab size and your supplier’s pallet coverage. The tool gives the rolls to buy with waste, the pallets, and the order split into full pallets and loose rolls.

Worked example

Imperial: a 40 × 25 ft lawn is 1,000 ft². With 5% waste, 1,050 ft². At 10 ft² a roll that is 105 rolls. With pallets of 450 ft², 1,050 ÷ 450 = 2.33 — so 3 pallets, or 2 pallets and 15 rolls (1,050 − 900 = 150 ft²).

Metric: a 12 × 8 m lawn is 96 m². With 5% waste, 100.8 m². At 1 m² a roll that is 101 rolls. With 40 m² pallets, 100.8 ÷ 40 = 2.52 — 3 pallets, or 2 pallets and 21 rolls.

On the job

Loose rolls cost more. Farms price by the pallet and add a premium on a broken one, so on a job that comes to 2.8 pallets, three full pallets can cost about the same as two and a pile of loose rolls. Check both prices.

Lay it the day it lands. Sod heats up on the pallet. On a big lawn, stage deliveries so each load gets laid and watered the same day.

Stagger the joints. Lay the rolls like brick, joints offset, cut with a sharp knife at beds and edges. The offcuts fill small gaps — that is what the waste margin is for.

What went wrong?

Quick referencefor sod

Rolls: area × (1 + waste) ÷ roll size, rounded up
2 × 5 ft roll: 10 ft² — 10 rolls per 100 ft² before waste
1 m² roll: 10.76 ft² — one roll per square metre
Area: 1,000 ft² = 92.9 m² · 100 m² = 1,076 ft²
Rolls per pallet: pallet coverage ÷ roll size — 450 ft² of 10 ft² rolls = 45

The formula

rolls = (length × width + extra areas) × (1 + waste) ÷ roll size

Pallets are the same area divided by the pallet coverage. Full pallets are the whole number of those; the loose rolls are what is left over divided by one roll, rounded up.

Questions

How many rolls of sod do I need?: Lawn area plus waste, divided by one roll. A 40 × 25 ft lawn is 1,000 ft²; with 5% waste that is 1,050 ft², and at 10 ft² a roll (2 × 5 ft) that is 105 rolls. In metric, a 12 × 8 m lawn is 96 m², 100.8 m² with waste — 101 rolls of 1 m².
How much sod is on a pallet?: It depends on the farm and the cut — pallets are often somewhere around 400–500 ft² (about 37–46 m²). Ask your supplier for their number and type it in; the tool splits the order into full pallets and loose rolls.
How much extra sod should I order?: About 5% for a plain rectangle — the default. Go to 10% for curved edges, lots of beds, trees or a narrow strip where every roll is cut. Sod does not keep, so there is no point in a big margin.
How long does sod keep once delivered?: Not long — rolls heat up and yellow on the pallet, especially in warm weather. Plan to lay it the day it arrives, and order in batches you can lay and water that day on a big job.

Related tools

Spot something wrong on this page? Report it

Thanks — your report was sent.

That didn’t send. Please try again later.