🪨 Gravel Calculator

What This Calculator Does

This calculator converts a gravel project into an order. Enter the area to cover in square feet and the depth in inches, and it returns the volume in cubic feet and cubic yards plus the approximate weight in tons — the two units gravel suppliers actually sell in. Paths, pads, driveways, and drainage beds all reduce to this same arithmetic.

Gravel is heavy and non-returnable in practice, so both directions of error cost real money: order short and you pay a second delivery fee, order long and a surplus pile lives on your driveway. Three numbers — length, width, depth — turn the guess into a correct order.

From Area and Depth to Yards and Tons

The volume math mirrors any fill material: area times depth. A 100 sq ft path at 3 inches is 100 × (3/12) = 25 cubic feet, and dividing by 27 gives 0.93 cubic yards. Weight then comes from density: typical crushed stone and gravel runs about 1.4 tons per cubic yard (a range of roughly 1.2–1.7 depending on stone type, size, and moisture), so the example path weighs about 1.3 tons — a number that also matters for what a pickup truck or trailer can legally and safely carry.

Suppliers price by the yard or the ton interchangeably, so fluency in both prevents comparison mistakes: a quote of “$45 per ton” against “$58 per yard” only compares once you convert (at 1.4 t/yd, the per-ton quote is $63 a yard — the other quote wins). The calculator shows both units for exactly this reason. For odd-shaped areas, decompose into rectangles as with any area job, sum the square footage, and run the total through once.

Choosing Depth by Purpose

Depth is where gravel projects are won or lost, and it depends on the job. Decorative ground cover and light-use walkways work at 2–3 inches over landscape fabric — enough to hide the ground and stay put. Standard paths do better at 3–4 inches. Driveways are a different animal: they need 6–12 inches total, built as a layered system — several inches of large crushed base stone for structure, topped with 2–3 inches of smaller surface gravel — because a thin single layer under vehicle weight ruts and scatters within a season.

Drainage applications (French drains, soakaways, foundation perimeter) size by the drainage design rather than appearance, typically using washed, uniform stone whose voids move water. Two practical notes travel with every use: compact in layers rather than dumping full depth at once for anything bearing weight, and lay landscape fabric beneath decorative and path gravel to stop it migrating into the soil — the fabric costs little and doubles the installation's tidy lifespan. Whatever the depth you choose, the calculator prices the decision instantly, which makes comparing a 3-inch and 4-inch plan a ten-second exercise.

Ordering and Handling the Load

Gravel logistics reward a little planning. Bulk delivery drops a dense pile — a single cubic yard is a mound roughly 3 × 3 × 3 feet weighing well over a ton — so choose a drop spot near the work, on a surface that can take it, with tarps down if it is a driveway you care about. Moving gravel is wheelbarrow work measured in trips: a standard barrow holds around 3 cubic feet, meaning nine-plus trips per yard, which is worth knowing before promising the job to a Saturday morning.

Small jobs have a bagged option: 0.5 cu ft bags at hardware stores, practical below a few dozen square feet and painful beyond. The bulk crossover arrives fast because bagged gravel costs several times the per-volume bulk price. As with concrete and mulch, round the order up modestly — settling, compaction, and edge spill absorb 5–10% routinely — and if the supplier's minimum delivery exceeds your need, a neighbor with a project or a planned second use turns the minimum into value rather than waste. Compute honestly here, order once, and the pile disappears into the project instead of persisting beside it.

Quick Tips

• Volume = area × (depth ÷ 12); ÷ 27 for yards; × ~1.4 for tons.
• 2-3″ decorative, 3-4″ paths, 6-12″ layered for driveways.
• Lay fabric under decorative gravel; compact load-bearing layers.
• A yard is 9+ wheelbarrow trips — plan the drop spot near the work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much gravel do I need?

Multiply area (sq ft) by depth in feet (inches / 12) for cubic feet, divide by 27 for cubic yards, and multiply yards by about 1.4 for tons. A 100 sq ft path at 3 inches needs about 0.93 cubic yards — roughly 1.3 tons.

How many tons is a cubic yard of gravel?

Around 1.4 tons for typical crushed stone and gravel, though it ranges about 1.2-1.7 depending on the material and moisture. Suppliers quote their product's exact weight; 1.4 is the standard planning figure.

How deep should gravel be?

2-3 inches for decorative cover and walkways, 4 inches for standard paths, and 6-12 inches total for driveways — usually built as layers: larger base stone below, smaller surface gravel on top.

Should I order gravel by the yard or by the ton?

Suppliers sell both; they are the same material measured differently. Order in whichever unit the supplier quotes, using the calculator to translate — and round up slightly, since settling and spillage always consume a little extra.

Practical, Instant, and Free

This calculator runs entirely in your browser, converting projects to orders the moment you type. It needs no account or download and works on any device. Like every tool here, it is free to use as often as you like.

Related Tools

For more project math, the mulch calculator handles organic cover, the concrete calculator sizes pours, and the square footage calculator measures the area first.