Bulk Material Calculator
Estimate gravel, concrete, mulch, sand, topsoil and pavers — in cubic yards, tons or bags.
A material calculator that shows its work
Order too little bulk material and the job stops while you wait for a second delivery. Order too much and you have paid to have a pile of gravel hauled onto your driveway that you now have to move. This material calculator exists to get that number right the first time — for gravel, concrete, mulch, sand, topsoil, crushed stone and pavers — and to show you the measurements it is working from so you can sanity-check them before you call the yard.
Enter the length, width and depth of the area you are filling. The drawing beside the inputs redraws as you type, with the dimensions marked the way they would be on a site plan, so a transposed number or a wrong unit is easy to catch. The result comes back in cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic metres and tons, plus the amount to actually order once a settling allowance is added.
How the calculation works
Every bulk-material estimate is the same three steps. First, the area: length times width for a rectangle, π times the radius squared for a circle, half base times height for a triangle. Second, the volume: area times depth, with the depth converted to the same unit as the area. Third, the conversion that trips people up — there are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard, so cubic feet divided by 27 gives the cubic yards a supplier will quote.
Weight is volume times density. A cubic yard of dry gravel or sand runs about 1.3 to 1.4 tons, screened topsoil about 1.1 tons, wood mulch only about half a ton because it is mostly air, and mixed concrete about two tons. Those densities vary with moisture and how compacted the material is, which is the main reason the figures here are estimates and the reason for the waste allowance.
Why order ten percent extra
The calculator defaults to a 10% over-order and shows both numbers. Bulk material compacts under its own weight and under traffic, so a bed that measures three inches deep loose settles shallower. Ground is never perfectly level, spreading wastes some at the edges, and a delivered ton is weighed with normal moisture that later dries off. For a small job, rounding up to the nearest half yard does the same thing. For gravel driveways and structural fill, some contractors go to 15%.
Cubic yards or tons — match the quote
Landscape supply yards usually price soil, mulch and compost by the cubic yard and stone, gravel and sand by the ton. Quarries almost always sell by the ton. Ready-mix concrete is sold by the cubic yard with a short-load fee below about a yard. Because this calculator reports volume and weight side by side, you can take whichever number matches how your supplier quoted and check the other against it.
Measuring an area that is not a clean rectangle
Most real yards, beds and patios are not tidy rectangles. The reliable approach is to break the space into shapes you can measure — rectangles, triangles and circles — run each through the calculator, and add the results. The tool keeps a running total when you set the number of areas, so three garden beds of the same size only need to be entered once. For a long curved border, approximate it as a ring by entering the outer and inner width; for an irregular blob, box it into the smallest rectangle that contains it and subtract the corners you know are empty.
Depth matters more than people expect. Because volume scales directly with depth, spreading gravel an inch deeper than planned over a 400-square-foot area adds a third of a cubic yard — most of a wheelbarrow every few feet. Decide the finished depth before you measure, and measure from the compacted sub-base, not from loose soil that will pack down.
Common estimating mistakes
The three that cost the most are mixing units — feet on one input and inches on another — forgetting to divide by 27 when converting to cubic yards, and ordering the exact calculated amount with no allowance. A fourth is trusting a bag-count estimate for a large pour: past roughly half a cubic yard, bagged concrete costs far more per yard than ready-mix and takes far longer to place. This calculator guards the first two by converting every input to a common unit for you and showing the cubic-yard figure explicitly, and it flags the bag comparison on the concrete pages.
Common quantities at a glance
Handy figures for checking a supplier’s quote or estimating in your head. The how we calculate page shows every formula, the density tables and the sources behind these numbers.
| Quantity | Works out to |
|---|---|
| 1 cubic yard | 27 cubic feet · 0.765 cubic metres · 202 US gallons |
| 1 cubic yard covers | 324 ft² at 1″ · 162 ft² at 2″ · 108 ft² at 3″ · 81 ft² at 4″ |
| 1 ton of gravel covers | ~100 ft² at 2″ · ~50 ft² at 4″ (≈1.4 tons per yd³) |
| 1 cubic yard of mulch | 13.5 bags of 2 ft³ · covers ~160 ft² at 2″ |
| Concrete for a 10×10 slab | 4″ ≈ 1.23 yd³ · 6″ ≈ 1.85 yd³ |
| 80 lb concrete bags per yard | 45 · (60 lb = 60 bags · 40 lb = 90 bags) |
| Cubic feet → cubic yards | divide by 27 |
| Cubic yards → tons | multiply by density (gravel 1.4 · sand 1.35 · topsoil 1.1 · concrete 2.0 · mulch 0.5) |
| Standard tandem dump truck | 10–14 cubic yards (≈15–20 tons) |
| Recommended over-order | 10% for settling, compaction and spillage (15% for driveways) |
Pick the calculator for your material
The tool above defaults to gravel. Each material has its own page with the right density built in, the bag sizes that apply, and a guide to depths and coverage: the gravel calculator, concrete calculator, mulch calculator, sand calculator, topsoil calculator and paver sand calculator. For a poured slab, the concrete slab calculator also gives you bag counts for 40, 60 and 80 lb mixes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate how much material I need?
Multiply the area you are covering (length × width for a rectangle) by the depth, keeping every measurement in the same unit. Divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards — the unit most suppliers quote. This calculator does that for you and adds a waste allowance.
How many cubic yards are in a ton?
It depends on the material. A ton of dry gravel or sand is roughly 0.7 cubic yards; a ton of screened topsoil is closer to 0.9; mixed concrete is about 0.5. The calculator converts using a typical density for each material.
How much does a cubic yard weigh?
A cubic yard of gravel weighs about 1.4 tons, sand about 1.35 tons, screened topsoil about 1.1 tons, wood mulch about 0.5 tons, and mixed concrete about 2 tons. Wet material weighs more.
How many 80 lb bags of concrete make a cubic yard?
About 45. An 80 lb bag yields roughly 0.6 cubic feet, and there are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard. A 60 lb bag yields about 0.45 cubic feet, so it takes about 60 of those.
How deep should gravel be for a driveway?
Plan on 4 to 6 inches of gravel for a residential driveway, often in two layers of different stone sizes. For a walking path or patio base, 2 to 3 inches is usually enough over a compacted sub-base.
How deep should mulch be?
Two to three inches for most beds, up to four inches for weed suppression around trees and shrubs. More than four inches can starve roots of air and hold too much moisture against stems.
How much extra material should I order?
Ten percent is the usual allowance. Bulk material settles and compacts, spreads unevenly, and some is lost in handling. The calculator shows both the exact figure and the amount to order.
How do I convert cubic feet to cubic yards?
Divide by 27. A cubic yard is 3 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft = 27 cubic feet. So 54 cubic feet is 2 cubic yards.
How much area does a cubic yard of mulch cover?
About 160 square feet at 2 inches deep, or roughly 108 square feet at 3 inches. One cubic yard equals 324 square feet at 1 inch.
What is the difference between #57 stone and 3/4-inch gravel?
#57 is a washed, angular crushed stone roughly 3/4 inch across with the fines screened out, so it drains well and is used for drainage and as a base. "3/4 minus" keeps the fine material, so it compacts hard and is used for driveways and pack.
Do suppliers sell by the yard or by the ton?
Landscape yards usually sell soil, mulch and compost by the cubic yard, and stone, gravel and sand by the ton. Quarries almost always sell by the ton. The calculator gives you both so you can match the quote.
How much is a truckload of gravel or topsoil?
A standard tandem dump truck carries about 10 to 14 cubic yards. Price varies widely by region and material, from around $15 to $60 per cubic yard delivered plus a haul fee. Enter your local price per yard or ton to get a cost estimate.
How do I calculate concrete for a slab?
Multiply the slab length by its width by its thickness, all in feet, then divide by 27 for cubic yards. A 10 ft × 10 ft slab at 4 inches thick is about 1.23 cubic yards. Use the concrete calculator for bag counts.
Is this calculator free?
Yes. Every calculator on the site is free, needs no sign-in, and works on a phone at the store or the job site.