Compacted vs loose aggregate: why you order more than you place
The depth you design for a base is compacted depth, but aggregate is sold loose. Here is why the order volume is larger than the finished layer.
Read the guide
Blog: Guides on gravel quantities, depths, materials and ordering
Guides, notes and background reading.
-
-
Concrete driveway planning: volume, joints and truck loads
How to estimate concrete volume for a driveway, why control joints matter, and how to work out how many ready-mix truck loads a driveway pour needs.
Read the guide
-
Concrete footing volume: how to calculate a strip footing
How to calculate concrete volume for a strip footing under a wall or fence, why footing depth follows local frost line rules, and how to estimate rebar quantity.
Read the guide
-
Concrete pad sizes for AC units, generators and hot tubs
Typical concrete pad sizes for common equipment, how to calculate the concrete volume for one or several pads, and why manufacturer specs matter more than defaults.
Read the guide
-
Deck footing count: beam grid, posts and concrete
How to calculate the number of footings a deck needs from its beam and post layout, and how to estimate the concrete each footing takes.
Read the guide
-
Deck joist count: spacing, lumber and rim joists
How to calculate the number of joists a deck needs from length and spacing, how joist width determines lumber board count, and why span tables matter.
Read the guide
-
Floor joist count and spacing: interior framing explained
How floor and ceiling joist count is calculated from room dimensions and spacing, and why interior joists are a separate estimate from deck joists.
Read the guide
-
How many boxes of flooring do I need?
Plank, laminate and vinyl flooring is bought by a box coverage figure, not counted piece by piece. Here is how that math works and why overage happens.
Read the guide
-
How many bricks do I need for a wall?
Why bricks per square foot depends on the mortar joint as much as the brick itself, and how to turn wall area into an accurate brick count.
Read the guide
-
How many fence pickets do I need? Coverage and rail length
How to calculate fence picket count from coverage per picket, why gap size matters as much as picket width, and how to estimate rail footage.
Read the guide
-
How many fence posts do I need? Post count and concrete
How to calculate fence post count from length and spacing, why the count is always one more than the number of sections, and how to estimate setting concrete.
Read the guide
-
How many pavers do I need? Patio and walkway guide
Step-by-step method for calculating the number of pavers needed for any area. Covers common paver sizes, pattern layouts and the 5 to 10 percent waste allowance.
Read the guide
-
How many retaining wall blocks do I need? Courses and count
How wall length and height turn into a block count, what a straight vertical count leaves out, and why taller walls need more than a block order.
Read the guide
-
How many sheets of plywood do I need? Sheets from area and waste
How to calculate plywood or OSB sheet count from an area, why sheet goods carry a bigger waste allowance than poured materials, and what overage means.
Read the guide
-
How many shingle bundles do I need for my roof?
How to calculate shingle bundles from a roof footprint and pitch, why waste allowance matters, and what is not included in a bundle count.
Read the guide
-
How many studs do I need? On-center spacing and corner studs
How wall stud count is calculated from length and on-center spacing, and why corners need extra studs beyond the base layout.
Read the guide
-
How many tiles do I need? Tile count and box conversion
How the grout joint sets tile coverage per square foot, why tiles are counted per piece rather than by a box figure, and converting to boxes.
Read the guide
-
How much concrete do I need? Ordering guide
Learn how to calculate the exact amount of concrete you need for slabs, footings and posts. Covers cubic feet, cubic yards and bag counts so you order right the first time.
Read the guide
-
How much concrete for a slab: volume, bags and cost
Step-by-step method for calculating concrete slab volume, converting to bags or ready-mix, and applying a waste allowance. Worked examples included.
Read the guide
-
How much concrete for post holes? Calculating volume for fence and deck posts
Learn how to calculate the exact amount of concrete needed for fence posts, deck footings and mailbox posts. Covers round and square holes, depth considerations and bag counts.
Read the guide
-
How much concrete for steps: the stacked-block formula
Why concrete stair volume scales faster than the step count, the stacked-block formula for solid steps, and worked examples with rise and run.
Read the guide
-
How much mulch do I need? Measuring garden beds the right way
A step-by-step guide to calculating mulch volume for garden beds, tree rings and pathways. Covers depth conversion, cubic yard ordering and common mistakes.
Read the guide
-
How much paint do I need? Estimating gallons for walls, ceilings and trim
Calculate how much paint you need for any room by measuring wall area, accounting for windows and doors, and choosing the right number of coats. Includes gallon coverage rates.
Read the guide
-
How much sand do I need? Volume, weight and bags
How to turn a length, width and depth into a sand order in tons or cubic yards, and why the density figure you use matters more than the math.
Read the guide
-
How much sod do I need? Calculating rolls and pallets for your lawn
Learn how to measure and order the right amount of sod for lawn installation, repair or replacement. Covers roll sizes, pallet coverage and waste allowance for curves and edges.
Read the guide
-
How much topsoil do I need? Measuring for lawns, gardens and raised beds
Calculate the volume of topsoil you need for lawn repair, garden beds and raised beds. Covers depth conversion, cubic yard ordering and practical application tips.
Read the guide
-
How to calculate rafter length: pitch, run and the hypotenuse
How rafter length is calculated as the hypotenuse of run and rise, how pitch changes that length, and how rafter count follows from spacing.
Read the guide
-
How to estimate deck materials: boards, joists and posts
Step-by-step method for counting deck boards, joists, beams and posts. Covers board width, joist spacing, waste allowance and framing layout.
Read the guide
-
How to estimate fence materials: pickets, posts and rails
Step-by-step method for counting fence pickets, posts, rails and gates. Covers post spacing, picket width, section layout and waste allowance.
Read the guide
-
How to estimate roofing materials: squares, shingles and area
Step-by-step method for calculating roofing squares, shingle bundles and material area from roof dimensions and pitch. Covers gable, hip and flat roofs.
Read the guide
-
How to estimate wall framing lumber: studs, plates and openings
How a whole wall material estimate accounts for studs, top and bottom plates, and rough openings, and why it stops short of structural design.
Read the guide
-
How to measure roof pitch from rise and run
How to measure roof pitch with a level and tape, what x-in-12 notation means, and how pitch converts to angle, percent grade and rafter length.
Read the guide
-
Lumber order quantities explained: boards, offcut and cost
How to convert a linear-footage run of lumber into a whole-board order, why the leftover offcut is not wasted, and when to size up.
Read the guide
-
Roof pitch to degrees and percent: conversion explained
How to convert roof slope between x-in-12 pitch notation, degrees and percent grade, with the formulas and worked examples for each direction.
Read the guide
-
Roof square footage from a building footprint
Why a roof covers more area than the building footprint beneath it, how to apply the pitch multiplier, and how roofing squares are counted.
Read the guide
-
Stair calculator guide: Rise, run and stringer length for any staircase
A practical guide to calculating stair dimensions including rise, run, stringer length and headroom. Covers building code basics and common residential stair measurements.
Read the guide
-
What is a board foot? Understanding lumber measurement for your project
A clear explanation of board feet as a lumber measurement unit, how to calculate board foot volume and how to convert between board feet and standard board sizes.
Read the guide
-
How much gravel do you need for a 10x10 area?
A 10 by 10 foot area is 100 square feet. Here is the tonnage at the usual depths, worked out step by step, with a 10 percent allowance added.
Read the guide
-
Gravel in tonnes, cubic metres and kilograms explained
How many tonnes are in a cubic metre of gravel, how much space a tonne takes up, and why a ton is not the same thing as a cubic metre. With the numbers worked out.
Read the guide
-
How many bags of gravel equal 1 ton?
Forty 50 pound bags make a ton exactly. Here is the count for every common bag size, and why a bag sold by volume is a different calculation.
Read the guide
-
How much will 1 ton of gravel cover?
About 115 square feet at 2 inches deep for a typical stone, and roughly half that at twice the depth. Here is the table and where the number comes from.
Read the guide
-
How do I calculate how much gravel I need? A step by step guide
Measure the area, decide the depth, pick a density, add an allowance. Here is each step worked through by hand, with the arithmetic shown.
Read the guide
-
Gravel driveway layers explained
A driveway that lasts is built in layers with different jobs, not one depth of one material. Here is what each layer does and why skipping one shows up as ruts within a season.
Read the guide
-
How much gravel fits in a dump truck?
The honest answer is that the legal axle weight limit decides it more often than the size of the truck bed does, which is why the same truck carries different volumes of different materials.
Read the guide
-
Pea gravel or crushed stone: which one do you actually need?
They get chosen for opposite reasons. One rolls, one locks together, and the job usually decides which you want before price does.
Read the guide
-
What is crusher run, and why is almost every driveway built on it?
Crusher run is the one material on this site that is defined by what stays in it, not what is screened out. That is exactly what makes it a base material.
Read the guide
-
What is #57 gravel, and when should you use it?
The numbered stone grades explained: what #57 actually means, what it is good at, and why the number matters less than whether the fines were washed out.
Read the guide
-
Bulk gravel or bags: which is actually cheaper?
Bulk wins on price per ton and bags win on delivery. Where the crossover falls depends on two numbers, and it is easy to work out.
Read the guide
-
How deep should gravel be?
Depth drives the whole cost of a gravel job, and most people get it wrong in the same direction. Common depths by project, and what actually decides them.
Read the guide
-
How many tons are in a cubic yard of gravel?
The short answer is about 1.4 tons, but the number moves with the material. Here is where it comes from and when it is wrong enough to matter.
Read the guide