To calculate how much sod you will need, you need to determine the total number of square feet where you want the sod to be installed and then divide by the square footage of each piece of sod.
If you’re in the Fort Smith, AR area or Northwest Arkansas, we would be happy to quote your sod job for free.
Sod Calculation Math Example
Front yard: 30 feet by 15 feet = 450 square feet
Side yard: 3 feet by 10 feet = 30 square feet
Backyard: 30 feet by 30 feet = 900 square feet
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450 + 30 + 900 = 1,380 total square feet
1,380 divided by 2.67 = 517 pieces of sod (Using 16″ x 24″ pieces of sod)
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In this example, we added up the front, side, and backyard square footage to arrive at a total of 1,380 square feet.
The average piece of sod is 16 inches x 24 inches or 2.67 square feet.
By dividing the total number of square feet we want to cover with sod by the square footage of each piece of sod, we get the total number of pieces of sod we will need.
Helpful Information When Calculating Sod
For the above example to be accurate, you need to ensure that the sod you will get is also 16″ x 24″. The dimensions of sod pieces can vary from sod farm to sod farm. If the sod you will get is a different dimension, multiply the length by the width (in inches), then divide by 144 to get the square footage of the sod you will be using and use that value where we used 2.67 in the example above.
Most pallets of sod contain 450-500 square feet of sod. Ask your sod supplier for the dimensions of each piece of sod and how many pieces can on a pallet.
It’s a good idea to buy slightly more sod than you need. 5% more is usually plenty. You want to do this in case your measurements were not exact or if there are a couple of bad pieces of sod on the pallet you’d prefer not to use.
Does installing 500 pieces of sod sound like too much work? Sod is available in large rolls also. These need to be installed using a skid steer with a special attachment. If you have a large-scale sod project, it is often best to leave it to a professional sod installation company like Riverview Turfworks.
