How much stone do I need?
Multiply the area by the depth to get volume, then multiply by the density of your material. In practice: length x width in feet, times depth in feet (divide inches by 12), gives cubic feet. Divide by 27 for cubic yards. Multiply cubic feet by the density in pounds per cubic foot and divide by 2,000 for US tons. The calculator above does all of it live, adds your waste allowance, and converts to metric and bags.
A worked example: a 20 x 10 ft driveway topped with 4 inches of 3/4 inch crushed stone is 200 sq ft x 0.333 ft = 66.7 cubic feet, or 2.47 cubic yards. At 105 lb per cubic foot that is 7,000 lb, or 3.5 US tons before waste. With a 10 percent allowance, order 3.85 tons and you will not be stuck waiting on a second delivery.
Material densities this calculator uses
| Material | lb per cu ft | US tons per cu yd |
|---|---|---|
| Crushed stone 3/4 inch (#57) | 105 | 1.42 |
| Crusher run / 2A modified | 115 | 1.55 |
| Stone dust / screenings | 100 | 1.35 |
| Pea gravel | 96 | 1.30 |
| River rock 1 to 3 inch | 89 | 1.20 |
| Sand, dry | 100 | 1.35 |
| Topsoil | 80 | 1.08 |
| Crushed concrete | 94 | 1.27 |
| Limestone base / DGA | 110 | 1.49 |
These are loose densities, the state the material arrives in on the truck. Once compacted in place, base materials pack 10 to 20 percent tighter, which is why base courses are ordered by loose volume plus a waste factor rather than by finished volume. Moisture matters too: wet sand weighs about 20 percent more than dry, so a supplier weighing wet material delivers less volume per ton.
How much does a ton of stone cover?
At a 2 inch depth, one US ton of 3/4 inch crushed stone covers roughly 115 sq ft. At 3 inches it covers about 76 sq ft, and at 4 inches about 57 sq ft. Lighter materials spread further: a ton of river rock at 2 inches covers about 135 sq ft. If a landscaper quotes coverage that sounds far better than this, they are quoting a shallower depth than your project needs.
Choosing the right depth
Decorative ground cover over fabric needs only 2 inches. Walkways want 3 inches over a compacted base. Residential driveways need 4 inches of surface stone over 4 to 6 inches of compacted base, and drainage applications like French drains or soakaways typically use 6 inches or more of clean stone. The project buttons above preset these depths; the deeper guides live on our dedicated pages for gravel, crushed stone base, French drains and paver bases.
Ordering without getting burned
Quarries sell by the US ton (2,000 lb) or the cubic yard, and they are not interchangeable: a yard of crushed stone weighs about 1.4 tons, while a yard of mulch weighs a quarter of that. Always confirm which unit the price is in. Keep a 10 percent waste allowance for spillage, uneven subgrade and settling, 15 percent if your area is irregular or hand spread. The Copy supplier estimate button formats your numbers so you can paste them straight into a quote request.