Landscape Material Calculators, Matched to the Material
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Choose your material
Depth is where Missouri estimates go wrong, and depth is a ground question. A four inch base that holds on cherty Ozark subgrade, firm once you scrape down to it, is thin on northern claypan where water perches from late fall into spring. Then pick the calculator that carries the right weight for your material.
Why a yard of mulch and a yard of crusher run are not one order
A cubic yard is 3 by 3 by 3 feet whatever goes in it, but shredded mulch weighs about 600 lb per yard and crusher run about 3,000 lb. Same volume, five times the weight. That is why a single aggregate calculator is the wrong tool: each one here applies the weight this site publishes for that product, so the tonnage comes out right.
It does not follow that every tool carries a different weight. Nine published figures cover the fourteen. Gravel, pea gravel and stone all convert at 1.40 tons a yard; base rock, crusher run and paver base all convert at 1.50; the two sands and river rock all convert at 1.35. Where two tools share a figure the tonnage cannot tell you which to open. The depth the layer needs can.
Lanes, pads and drives
- Gravel Calculator for drives, paths and pads in tons of crushed or decorative rock.
- Base Rock Calculator for long drives, farm lanes and equipment pads.
- Crusher Run Calculator for the compacting layer under a drive or a parking area.
- Paver Base Calculator for the compacted course that keeps a patio flat.
Build a drive in two passes: figure the compacted base layer first, then the surfacing course as a second calculation.
Clean stone, armor and decorative rock
- Stone Calculator for 1 inch clean, 3/4 inch clean, screenings and ballast.
- Rip Rap Calculator for creek banks, pond dams and slopes taking storm runoff.
- River Rock Calculator for beds, borders and dry creek runs.
- Pea Gravel Calculator for play areas, patios and walkways.
Washed stone for a French drain or a soggy trench wants 12 inches or more of clean rock, which is a depth people routinely underestimate. Rip rap goes down in layers of 12 inches or more over fabric and calculates at about 3,100 lb per yard, the heaviest thing here.
Soil, fill and mulch for beds and low spots
- Topsoil Calculator for new lawns, topdressing and finish grading.
- Soil Calculator for garden beds, planters and raised beds.
- Dirt Calculator for filling holes, raising grade and low spots, with settling allowed for.
- Mulch Calculator for beds and borders.
A thin or bare lawn takes 4 to 6 inches of screened topsoil before seed or sod. Build the low ground up with fill dirt first and keep topsoil for the top few inches, since fill weighs about 2,400 lb per yard and screened topsoil about 2,200 lb. Wet material weighs more than either figure, but the published weight is for the material as sold and is what the tool applies, so order by volume where the difference would matter.
Bedding sand for patios and boxes
- Sand Calculator for mason and washed sand in bedding, boxes and mixes.
- Paver Sand Calculator for bedding sand in tons and joint sand separately.
A paver patio takes a compacted base with exactly one inch of bedding sand over it, so run those two layers through their own tools rather than adding them together.
Measuring an Ozark turnaround into the tool
Each calculator takes a rectangle, a circle, or up to five separate areas added together. Length, width and diameter go in as feet and depth as inches, anywhere from 0.25 to 24. Pick the material, tick the optional 5 percent for compaction and spillage if the ground is rough, and press calculate for cubic yards, tons and cubic feet.
The arithmetic behind it is: cubic yards equal length in feet times width in feet times depth in inches divided by 12, all divided by 27. Tons are those cubic yards times the material weight, from 0.30 for mulch up to 1.55 for rip rap. On a sloping lane, run the tape along the ground rather than holding it level, because the stone covers the surface you walk on. Once you have the tonnage, pick the material from the full range and set a quantity and a date. What the truck needs on arrival is worth reading before you choose where the load goes.
Common questions
Two calculators could fit my job. Which one do I use?
The one named for the material you are ordering, because the weight it applies belongs to that product. If you are comparing pea gravel against river rock for the same path, enter the same measurements in both. The volume will match, and the tonnage will land within about four percent, since the two are published at 1.40 and 1.35, so the figures will not settle it. The stone size and the depth you want will.
Should I be buying by the ton or by the yard?
Go by the unit shown on the product page. Stone and gravel are sold by the ton here, soils and mulch by the yard. Every tool shows both figures, so nothing needs converting by hand.
How much can the real amount differ from the estimate?
The conversion is dependable. The subgrade decides the rest. Moisture, settling and an uneven subgrade can move the requirement by roughly 10 to 15 percent, which is what the 5 percent allowance partly covers. Re-measuring is worth more than padding the order.
Can I work out two materials for the same delivery?
Yes. Run each layer separately, base stone and then surfacing gravel, or fill dirt and then topsoil, and put both quantities on one order.
Priced it? It ships free.
All 24 materials in these calculators are in stock, delivered free across Missouri.