Part of a paver pallet is a whole pallet on the bill
The pallet you didn't plan for
The patio's 14 by 20. 280 square feet.
Kevin Goodwin, a contractor in Alabama, adds twenty percent to a paver job for cuts. On a rectangle that covers a running bond and a basketweave with room to spare, and it still covers a herringbone, which is where most of the waste actually is. He doesn't refigure it job by job. 280 plus twenty percent is 336.
Say your supplier's pallets cover 120 square feet. 336 divided by 120 is 2.8.
You don't get 2.8 pallets. Kevin buys whole pallets, and most yards won't break one open for you. Three pallets is 360 square feet.
That's 24 square feet past your cut allowance, and it's on the invoice whether you lay it or not. Price the job on 336 and those 24 square feet come out of your margin.
Price on the pallets you'll pay for
Three pallets, 360 square feet, and the patio on the estimate still reads 280.
The extras aren't wasted, either. Leave a few with the homeowner. Pavers get stained, cracked, or dug up for a sprinkler line, and matching the color two years later is hard. Ten spare pavers stacked by the side of the house is a favor she'll remember.
Yardstick rounds up to whole pallets off your supplier's ticket.