Stone Calculator
Work out how much stone, gravel or sand your project needs. Enter your area and depth, pick a material, and get cubic yards, cubic meters, tons and an order-ready cost estimate. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Density used: 2,700 lb/yd³ (1.35 tons/yd³)
Add 5–10% to cover compaction, uneven ground and spillage.
Your stone estimate
Coverage area
Volume needed
Weight to order
Bagged equivalent
Includes a 10% waste allowance. Suppliers sell in whole tons or half yards, so round up when you order.
How to Use the Stone Calculator
- Choose your units and shape — Switch between imperial (feet and inches) and metric (meters and centimeters), then pick a rectangle for driveways, patios and beds, or a circle for fire pits, tree rings and round planters.
- Enter your dimensions — Type the length and width of the area, or the diameter for a circle. Measure the widest points and round up slightly so you are not left short.
- Set the depth — Enter the depth of stone you want, or tap a preset: 4 inches for a driveway, 3 inches for a patio base, 2 inches for a walkway, 3 inches for a garden bed, or 6 inches for a drainage trench.
- Pick your material — Select crushed stone, gravel, pea gravel, river rock, sand, limestone, decomposed granite, marble chips, lava rock or topsoil. Each material carries its own density, which is what turns volume into tonnage.
- Add a waste allowance and price — Keep the 10% waste allowance (or adjust it) to cover compaction and spillage, then enter your supplier's price per ton to get a material cost estimate.
- Read and copy your estimate — The results update as you type, showing cubic feet, cubic yards, cubic meters, US tons, metric tonnes and bag counts. Use Copy results to paste the whole quote into an email or order form.
About the Free Stone & Gravel Calculator
The ToolGenie Stone Calculator answers the question every landscaping and hardscaping project starts with: how much stone do I actually need? Enter the area you are covering and the depth you want, choose a material, and the calculator converts your measurements into cubic feet, cubic yards, cubic meters, US tons and metric tonnes — the exact units stone yards and builders' merchants quote in.
The math behind it is simple, and the calculator shows every step of it. Length × width gives your area. Area × depth gives volume in cubic feet. Dividing cubic feet by 27 gives cubic yards. Multiplying cubic yards by the material's density gives weight in tons. For circles the calculator uses π × radius², and in metric mode it works in square meters and cubic meters before converting across. Doing this by hand is where most ordering mistakes happen, usually because depth is measured in inches while everything else is in feet.
Density is the part people underestimate. A cubic yard of pea gravel weighs roughly 2,800 lb, while the same volume of lava rock weighs about 1,000 lb — so identical driveways can need very different tonnages. This calculator ships with ten common material densities and shows the exact figure it used, so you can sanity-check the number against your supplier's own spec sheet before you order.
Everything runs client-side in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, no signup is required, and there are no limits on how many estimates you run. Planning a wider project? Pair this with our Unit Converter for quick measurement changes, the Percentage Calculator for markup and waste math, or the Invoice Generator when it is time to bill the job.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much gravel do I need for my project?
Multiply the length by the width of your area to get square feet, then multiply by the depth in feet (inches ÷ 12) to get cubic feet. Divide by 27 for cubic yards, then multiply by the material density — around 1.4 tons per cubic yard for gravel — to get tons. This stone calculator does all of it for you and adds a waste allowance on top.
How many tons of stone are in a cubic yard?
Most crushed stone and gravel weighs between 1.3 and 1.5 tons per cubic yard. Crushed stone, limestone, river rock, sand and marble chips average about 1.35 tons per cubic yard, gravel and pea gravel about 1.4, decomposed granite about 1.45, topsoil about 1.1, and lightweight lava rock only about 0.5. The calculator shows the exact density it applied to your estimate.
How deep should stone or gravel be?
A gravel driveway usually needs 4 inches (10 cm) of stone, a patio base 3 inches (8 cm), a walkway or path 2 inches (5 cm), a decorative garden bed 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm), and a drainage trench 6 inches (15 cm) or more. Heavy vehicle traffic or soft ground calls for a deeper base, often laid in two layers.
Do you buy stone by the yard or by the ton?
Both are common. Bulk suppliers in the United States usually sell crushed stone and gravel by the ton, while landscape yards often price mulch, topsoil and decorative rock by the cubic yard. In the UK, Europe and India stone is normally sold by the tonne or cubic meter. This calculator gives you all of those figures at once so you can order in whichever unit your supplier uses.
How many 50 lb bags of stone make a ton?
A US ton is 2,000 lb, so it takes 40 bags of 50 lb stone to make one ton — or 50 bags at 40 lb each. A metric tonne is 1,000 kg, which is 40 bags at 25 kg. Bagged stone costs considerably more per ton than bulk delivery, so bags make sense for small repairs and bulk makes sense from roughly half a ton upward.
How much waste should I add to a stone order?
Add 5 to 10 percent. Stone compacts once it is raked and driven on, ground is rarely perfectly level, and some material is always lost to spillage and edges. The calculator defaults to 10 percent, which is a safe figure for most driveway, patio and pathway jobs. Being slightly over is far cheaper than paying a second delivery fee.
How much does a ton of gravel cover?
At 2 inches deep, one ton of gravel covers roughly 100 square feet. At 3 inches it covers about 70 square feet, and at 4 inches about 50 square feet. Coverage varies with stone size and density, so use the calculator with your actual dimensions rather than relying on a rule of thumb.
Is this stone calculator free and private?
Yes. The stone calculator is completely free with no signup, no limits and no watermarks. Every calculation runs in your browser using client-side JavaScript, so your project dimensions, prices and estimates are never uploaded to a server or stored anywhere.
Tips for Estimating Stone and Gravel
- Measure at the widest point: Driveways and beds are rarely perfect rectangles. Measure the widest length and width, or split an irregular area into two or three rectangles and add the results together.
- Watch your depth units: Depth is entered in inches (or centimeters) while length and width are in feet (or meters). Mixing these up is the single most common cause of an order that is twelve times too big.
- Layer a driveway properly: A durable gravel driveway is usually two layers — a coarse 4 inch sub-base and a finer 2 inch top course. Run the calculator once per layer and add the tonnages together.
- Confirm density with your supplier: Density varies with stone size, moisture and quarry source. The calculator shows the figure it used, so compare it to your supplier's spec sheet before placing a large order.
- Budget beyond the stone: The cost estimate covers material only. Delivery, landscape fabric, edging, equipment rental and labor are often as much as the stone itself. Build the full quote with our Invoice Generator and check margins with the Percentage Calculator.
- Round up when you order: Suppliers deliver in whole tons or half cubic yards. Round your final figure up to the next unit — a small surplus is useful for topping up settled areas next season.