Stone Calculator
Estimate crushed stone, gravel, rock, or sand needed. Enter area and depth, choose units and price per ton to get volume, weight, and cost.
Enter the Details
Result will appear here...
What the stone calculator does
Crushed stone, gravel, and rock are sold by the ton but planned by the area, so you need to turn one into the other before you order. This does it. You give it the area and depth, pick the material, and it returns the volume in cubic yards and a weight in tons, plus a cost if you add a price.
Because different stone weighs differently, you choose the material and the calculator uses the right weight for it. Below is how it works, and why the tonnage comes back as a range rather than a single figure.
How to use it
- Enter length, width, and depth. The area you are covering and how deep the stone goes, each with its own unit.
- Pick the material. Crushed stone, gravel, larger rock and stone, or dry or wet sand. The weight changes with the choice.
- Add a price if you want a cost, set either per ton or per cubic yard to match how your supplier sells it.
- Press Calculate for the breakdown, or Reset to clear it.
How the volume and weight are worked out
The volume is the area times the depth, then turned into cubic yards:
Volume = length × width × depth
The weight comes from that volume and the density of the material you picked. Stone is sold by the ton, so the calculator multiplies the cubic yards by how many tons each yard of that material weighs, which is the figure a supplier needs to load and price your order.
The materials, and why the weight is a range
Loose stone never packs exactly the same way twice. The size and shape of the pieces, and how much moisture is in them, change how heavy a given volume turns out. So rather than pretend at a single exact weight, the calculator gives a low-to-high range using the realistic spread for each material.
| Material | Weight per cubic yard |
|---|---|
| Crushed stone (¼" to 2") | about 1.4 to 1.7 tons |
| Gravel (¾" to 2") | about 1.4 to 1.7 tons |
| Rock and stone (2" to 6") | about 1.5 to 1.7 tons |
| Sand, dry | about 1.3 to 1.5 tons |
| Sand, wet | about 1.5 to 1.7 tons |
When you order, the high end of the range is the safer number to plan around, since coming up short costs another delivery.
A worked example: a 30 ft path
Say you are covering a path 30 feet long and 5 feet wide with 3 inches of crushed stone.
The area is 30 × 5 = 150 square feet, and at 3 inches (0.25 ft) deep that is 150 × 0.25 = 37.5 cubic feet, which is 1.39 cubic yards. For crushed stone that comes to roughly 1.9 to 2.4 tons, depending on the stone.
So you would plan for about 2.4 tons to be safe, and add a little more for spread.
How far a yard of stone goes
Since coverage is just volume spread over an area, it is the same for any of these materials. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so:
| Depth | One cubic yard covers |
|---|---|
| 2 inches | about 162 sq ft |
| 3 inches | about 108 sq ft |
| 4 inches | about 81 sq ft |
A decorative layer over a path or bed is usually fine at 2 to 3 inches, while a base that carries weight wants 4 inches or more, often over a compacted sub-base.
Ordering the right amount
Add around 10 to 15 percent to the calculated weight for spread, settling, and uneven ground. If the stone is going to be compacted, for a base or a driveway, it packs down once rolled, so the loose amount you order ends up shallower and the higher end of that margin is the safer choice.
It is also worth ordering to the high end of the weight range above, since the true weight of your particular stone could land anywhere across it.
Questions people ask
How much stone do I need?
Work out the area, multiply by the depth for the volume, then by the material's weight per yard. A 150 square foot path at 3 inches deep needs about 1.39 cubic yards, or roughly 1.9 to 2.4 tons of crushed stone.
Why is the weight shown as a range?
Because loose stone's weight depends on the size, shape, and dampness of the pieces. The range covers the realistic spread, and the high end is the safer figure to order to.
How many tons are in a yard of crushed stone?
About 1.4 to 1.7 tons per cubic yard. Larger rock tends to sit at the top of that, and dry sand a little below it.
How much area does a yard of stone cover?
About 108 square feet at 3 inches deep, or 81 square feet at 4 inches. Coverage depends on the depth, not the type of stone.
References
A quick note on where these figures come from. The coverage math is pure geometry, the 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard spread over an area at a chosen depth. The weight of each material rests on its bulk density, which is measured by the ASTM test standard for the density of aggregate, and the ranges reflect the realistic spread for stone of different sizes and moisture. The unit conversions follow the US National Institute of Standards and Technology guide.
- ASTM C29/C29M, Standard Test Method for Bulk Density (Unit Weight) and Voids in Aggregate. https://www.astm.org/c0029_c0029m-23.html
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Special Publication 811, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI). https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811
Mahendra Thapaliya is a graduate student in Structural Engineering at the University of Bologna, with research interests in structural systems, FEM, earthquake engineering, and numerical modeling. At Eon Tools, he reviews construction tools.