Building Materials calculators

Start from your project: pick what you are building to see its layers, then open each calculator with the depth filled in. Every calculator returns what to order, with its formula and sources on the page. Costs use the price you enter; delivery, minimum-load fees, and tax are not included.

Maintained by Austin Witherow · Updated October 5, 2026

Cubic yards, tons, and bags
Published densities you can override
Concrete blocks and mortar bags

Calculators

Topsoil CalculatorWork out how many cubic yards of topsoil to order for a lawn, garden bed, or grading job, plus the weight, bag count, and cost.
Stone CalculatorWork out how much gravel or crushed stone to order for a driveway, path, patio base, or drainage area, in cubic yards, tons, and 50 lb bags.
Sand CalculatorWork out how much sand to order for a paver base, sandbox, or leveling layer, in cubic yards, tons, and bags.
Concrete Block CalculatorCount the standard 8×8×16 concrete blocks and 80 lb bags of mortar needed for a wall, with openings and waste included.
Paver CalculatorWork out how many pavers, how much base stone, bedding sand, and polymeric joint sand to order for a patio or walkway, with the base sized past the edges.
Cubic Yards to Tons CalculatorConvert cubic yards or cubic feet to tons, or tons to cubic yards, for gravel, sand, dirt, topsoil, base, and concrete, with the density and its source shown.

What are you building?

Most projects use more than one material. Pick yours to see its layers and open each calculator with the depth already filled in.

Paver patio or walkway

Pavers on 1 inch of bedding sand over a compacted stone base. Oregon State University Extension calls for a 4 to 6 inch base and Belgard's guide 4 to 8 inches, compacted in 2 to 4 inch lifts. Both guides lay out or dig the area past the pavers: about 8 inches (Oregon State) or at least 6 inches (Belgard). Add that on every side, so twice to each length and width: a 12 × 10 ft patio with 8 inches all round needs a 13.3 × 11.3 ft base, about 151 sq ft instead of 120. The paver calculator does all of this in one step, or run the base and sand separately: set the extra percentage to your supplier's allowance for compaction, and use Custom with your supplier's figure for a crushed base.

Paver calculator →Base stone at 6 in →Bedding sand at 1 in →

Raised bed or garden

Kansas State University recommends a bed at least 6 to 8 inches deep, filled with an amended mix that usually includes good topsoil and organic matter, often in similar portions. The topsoil calculator gives the volume of any soil or mix; its weight assumes loam.

Soil volume at 8 in →

Block wall

A block's nominal size is its actual size plus the mortar joint (Archtoolbox), so each standard block takes up 16 by 8 inches of wall face and walls are counted in whole 8 inch courses.

Concrete block calculator →

Which calculator to use

Topsoil, stone, and sand are spread over an area, so those calculators start from length and width (or a diameter for round areas) and a depth. The paver calculator does a whole patio at once: pavers, base, bedding sand, and joint sand. The cubic yards to tons calculator converts between volume and weight for each material. Concrete block is counted by wall size instead. The quantity calculators round up to whole pavers, bags, or blocks.

Order bulk material by the yard or ton: Turn length, width, and depth into the cubic yards or tons a supplier quotes.
Price bags against bulk: See how many bags match the same amount, then ask your supplier for both prices.
Plan a paver patio: Get pavers, base stone, bedding sand, polymeric sand, and edging from the patio and paver size.
Count block and mortar for a wall: Get standard 8×8×16 blocks, courses, and 80 lb mortar bags from the wall size.

Material weight and coverage chart

A cubic yard is a volume and a ton is a weight, so converting between them depends on the material. Every value below is computed from the published densities in the first column.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Material	lb/ft³	Tons per yd³	yd³ per ton	sq ft per ton at 2 in	50 lb bags per yd³
Loam	80	1.08	0.93	150	—
Dirt, loose dry	76	1.03	0.97	158	—
Dirt, loose moist	78	1.05	0.95	154	—
Sand, dry	97	1.31	0.76	124	53
Sand, wet	119	1.61	0.62	101	—
Gravel, dry	105	1.42	0.71	114	57
Gravel, wet	125	1.69	0.59	96	—

Densities: Engineering ToolBox, Dirt and Mud table. Its wet sand and gravel rows are 19 to 23% heavier than the dry rows, so moisture matters when you buy by the ton. Bag counts use dry density, like the sand and stone calculators, so they appear only on the dry sand and gravel rows. Use your supplier's figure when you have one.

How to measure an irregular area

Split the area into rectangles and circles, work out each one, and add them. Overlaps count once.

Example: an L-shaped bed made of a 20 ft × 10 ft rectangle and a 10 ft × 8 ft rectangle is 200 + 80 = 280 sq ft. A round bed 10 ft across is π × 5 × 5 = 78.5 sq ft. Together they are 358.5 sq ft.

The topsoil, stone, and sand calculators take a rectangle or a circle, so run each piece and add the results.

Cubic yards vs tons

A cubic yard (27 cubic feet) measures space. A US ton (2,000 lb) measures weight. One ton is not one cubic yard; it depends on how heavy the material is.

Tons = cubic yards × density in lb/ft³ × 27 ÷ 2,000. For dry gravel at 105 lb/ft³, 5 cubic yards is 5 × 105 × 27 ÷ 2,000 = 7.09 tons.

Cubic yards = tons × 2,000 ÷ (density × 27). So 3 tons of dry gravel is 3 × 2,000 ÷ (105 × 27) = 2.12 cubic yards.

Volume itself is length × width × depth. With length and width in feet and depth in inches, cubic yards = length × width × (depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27. A 10 ft × 10 ft area at 3 inches is 10 × 10 × 0.25 ÷ 27 = 0.93 cubic yards.

If a supplier quotes by the ton and your measurements are in yards, convert with their density figure, since it is the one they bill from. The cubic yards to tons calculator does this for each material, loose or compacted, or with your supplier's figure.

Sources

Oregon State University Extension: 10-Step Guide to Installing Pavers
Base 4 to 6 inches; sand bedding 1 inch; mark the area about 8 inches outside the pavers.
Belgard: Concrete Pavers Quick Reference Install Guide
4 to 8 inches of base compacted in 2 to 4 inch lifts, over-excavated at least 6 inches beyond the perimeter; nominal 1 inch uncompacted bedding sand.
Kansas State University: Raised Bed Gardening (MF2134)
A 6- to 8-inch bed depth at minimum; loosening and amending the soil below, then filling the bed, gives 10 to 12 inches of rich soil.
Engineering ToolBox: Dirt and Mud - Densities
Loam, loose dirt, sand, and gravel densities used in the weight chart.
Archtoolbox: Concrete Block (CMU) Sizes, Shapes, and Finishes
The nominal size of a block is its actual size plus the mortar joint.
QUIKRETE: Concrete Block Construction
Mortar joints about 3/8 inch thick.

Questions about these calculators

Is 1 ton equal to 1 cubic yard?+

No. A ton is a weight and a cubic yard is a volume. One cubic yard of dry gravel at 105 lb/ft³ weighs about 1.42 tons, while a cubic yard of loam at 80 lb/ft³ weighs about 1.08 tons. The chart on this page lists each material.

How much area does a ton of gravel cover?+

At 105 lb/ft³, one ton of dry gravel is about 19 cubic feet. That covers about 114 sq ft at 2 inches deep or about 57 sq ft at 4 inches.

How far does a cubic yard of topsoil spread?+

One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so it covers 324 sq ft at 1 inch, 162 sq ft at 2 inches, or 81 sq ft at 4 inches.

Is it cheaper to buy bags or bulk?+

Compare the cost per cubic yard. For bags, multiply the bag price by the bags in a cubic yard: 27 one-cubic-foot bags, or about 57 bags of 50 lb dry gravel at 105 lb/ft³. For bulk, add the delivery fee to the price per yard and divide by the yards you order. Use the prices your suppliers quote.

Why does the weight change when the volume does not?+

Weight depends on the material's density. Engineering ToolBox lists wet sand and wet gravel 19 to 23% heavier than dry for the same volume, which matters when you buy by the ton.

Can I use my supplier's density?+

Yes. The topsoil, stone, and sand calculators have a Custom option where you enter the tons-per-cubic-yard figure your supplier uses.

Do the costs include delivery?+

No. Costs cover the material at the price you enter. Delivery, minimum-load fees, and tax are extra.