Sod calculator: how many rolls and pallets you need

How the sod calculator works

Sod is sold by area, so the whole job is getting one honest square footage number and dividing it by what a roll and a pallet cover. Break the lawn into rectangles, multiply length by width for each, and add them. The calculator lets you add as many areas as you need, so a front lawn, a side strip and a back lawn can go in separately instead of being guessed as one shape.

Then it adds the waste allowance. Every curve, bed edge, sprinkler head and tree ring eats part of a roll, and the offcuts are rarely usable. Total area times (1 + waste) is the sod you buy. Divide that by the square feet per roll for the roll count, and by the square feet per pallet for the pallet count. Both round up, because nobody sells 0.4 of a pallet.

The standard small roll is 2 by 5 feet, which is 10 square feet. Some farms cut 16 by 24 inch slabs (2.67 square feet) instead, and big-roll installers use rolls of 40 square feet or more. A pallet is usually 450 square feet, sometimes 400 or 500. Both numbers are editable, so set them to whatever your supplier tells you.

• Square feet = sum of (length × width) for each area.
• Sod to buy = square feet × (1 + waste %).
• Rolls = sod to buy ÷ sq ft per roll, rounded up.
• Pallets = sod to buy ÷ sq ft per pallet, rounded up.

Worked example

A back lawn of 50 by 40 feet is 2,000 square feet. A side strip of 30 by 8 feet adds 240, for 2,240 total. The yard has a curved bed and a tree ring, so use 10 percent waste: 2,240 × 1.10 = 2,464 square feet of sod.

With 10 square foot rolls that is 246.4, rounded up to 247 rolls. With 450 square foot pallets it is 5.48, so 6 pallets. If your supplier sells loose rolls, you can buy 5 full pallets (2,250 square feet) plus 22 loose rolls instead and skip most of the sixth pallet. At $250 a pallet, the 6-pallet order costs $1,500 before delivery.

How much waste to add

Five percent is enough for a plain rectangle with straight edges against a driveway or fence. Ten percent fits most real yards, with a couple of beds, a walkway and a curve or two. Go to 15 percent if the lawn is mostly curves, wraps around a lot of trees, or sits on a slope where you will stagger and trim more. Running short is worse than having a few spare rolls: the second delivery costs another fee, and sod cut on a different day often differs slightly in color for the first few weeks.

What sod costs in 2026

Picked up at a sod farm or garden center, sod runs roughly $150 to $450 per 450 square foot pallet, about 35 to 90 cents per square foot. Cool-season blends (tall fescue, bluegrass) and Bermuda sit at the low end, St. Augustine in the middle, zoysia at the top. Delivery is usually $50 to $150 per load. If you leave the price box empty, the calculator shows that typical range for your square footage; enter your actual quote for an exact figure.

Installation by a crew adds about $1 to $2 per square foot, including final grading. The soil prep matters more than the sod: kill or strip the old turf, loosen the top few inches, rake it level, and water it the day before the sod arrives.

Frequently asked questions