Landscape Material Calculators for Red Clay, Sand and Storm Repair

Choose your material

The dry stretch between wet spells is what most jobs here get built in, and it is rarely long. That is the argument for settling the quantity before the ground is ready rather than after, so the order is already placed when the clay finally firms up. Fourteen tools sit behind this page, one per material family, and picking the right landscape material calculator is mostly a question of what the layer is being asked to do.

What each calculator is actually tied to

A cubic yard is a three foot cube whatever goes in it, but the tonnage is not. Shredded mulch runs about 600 lb a yard and crusher run about 3,000 lb, five times the weight for the same hole, so the conversion has to know the material.

Between those two ends the figures bunch up. Driveway and walkway gravel, pea gravel at 3/8 inch and crushed stone at #57 or 3/4 inch are each about 2,800 lb a cubic yard, or 1.40 tons. Crusher run, road base and paver base are about 3,000 lb, or 1.50. Screenings and stone dust, #4 stone and railroad ballast are about 2,900 lb (1.45). River rock at 1 to 3 inch, mason and washed sand, and paver sand are about 2,700 lb (1.35). Screened topsoil is about 2,200 lb (1.10), fill dirt 2,400 (1.20), blended garden soil 2,000 (1.00) and shredded mulch 600 (0.30). RipRap and armor stone are about 3,100 lb (1.55).

Figures are approximate and are the ones this site publishes. Nine of them cover fourteen tools, so the gap between two tools in the same family is a few percent rather than a few times, and between some of them there is no gap at all. That is worth knowing before you agonise over which one to open. Pick by what the layer is for and how deep it goes, and the weight comes with it.

Lanes, pads and turnarounds, where the layer has to lock together

Four tools cover the compacting family. The gravel calculator is the general one for drives, paths and pads. The crusher run calculator and the road base calculator both sit at 1.50 tons a yard and cover crush and run and ABC stone, the two names a Carolina lane is usually built from. The paver base calculator handles the compacted layer under a patio.

Depth here is the finished, compacted thickness, not what comes out of the truck. Place it proud and compact in lifts.

Washed stone and armor stone, which is what a wet autumn leaves behind

The stone calculator covers the graded and washed sizes, #57 and #67 through to screenings and ballast. The rip rap calculator works at 1.55 tons a yard for stone sized four to twelve inches, which is the range that goes on a cut bank or a culvert outlet after storm runoff has started moving soil.

Beds, paths and play areas over ground that stays damp

The river rock calculator and the pea gravel calculator cover decorative cover and seating areas. The mulch calculator answers in yards or bags for beds and tree rings. The paver sand calculator and the sand calculator cover bedding and joints, where an inch either way changes the finished level.

Grade first, growing layer second

The dirt calculator is for raising a low corner or filling a hole, with settling allowed for. The topsoil calculator covers new lawn and topdressing over clay, and the soil calculator handles beds and raised planters.

Feet and inches in, tons out, plus the allowance for a lift you will compact

Each tool takes a rectangle, a circle, or up to five areas at once. Length, width and diameter go in as feet, depth as inches between 0.25 and 24. Pick the material, and tick the optional five percent for compaction and spillage on anything that gets rolled. The answer comes back as cubic yards, tons and cubic feet, and can be emailed to you. Take the tonnage to the product page to choose the quantity and a delivery date, and read what the truck needs at the drop before you decide where the load goes.

Common questions