DIY Cost Tools
Gravel Calculator
Estimate cubic yards, approximate tons, and material cost for driveways, paths, drainage beds, and landscape areas.
How this calculator works
Volume = length × width × depth. Tons = cubic yards × material density. Confirm density with your supplier.
How the estimate works: The calculator uses your measurements, unit conversions, waste allowance, and product coverage to create a planning quantity. Review the formula shown above, then read the matching guide below before ordering. See How Our Calculators Work for assumptions and limitations.
Recommended gravel-project tools and supplies
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Confirm underground utilities before digging and select compaction equipment suitable for the project and material. Read our advertising disclosure.
Gravel volume and weight
Gravel is commonly sold by the ton or cubic yard. Weight varies with stone type, particle size, moisture, and compaction. The default density is only a planning value—ask your quarry or landscape supplier for the correct conversion.
Plan the base
A durable driveway or patio base can require excavation, geotextile, multiple compacted aggregate layers, drainage, and edge restraint. Calculate each material layer separately and account for compaction when your supplier recommends it.
Gravel-area example
A 20-by-10-foot area at 4 inches deep contains about 66.7 cubic feet, or 2.47 cubic yards, before an allowance. Weight cannot be determined from volume alone because stone type, gradation, moisture, and compaction affect density. Use the supplier’s tons-per-yard or pounds-per-cubic-foot value for the exact material and ask whether quoted quantities are loose or compacted.
Measure excavation and finished depth separately
Account for geotextile, base layers, drainage slope, edge restraints, settlement, and compaction. If a project uses several materials, such as larger base stone below a finer surface, calculate each layer independently. Irregular driveways can be divided into rectangles and triangles. Delivery minimums, truck access, spreading, equipment rental, and removed soil are not part of the material volume.