Concrete, masonry and landscaping jobs are sold by volume or by the piece, and ordering the wrong amount is expensive. A short delivery can leave a cold joint in a slab, while extra bags of concrete or a surplus load of gravel are hard to return. These calculators turn your measurements into cubic yards, cubic meters, bags, blocks or tons so you can order with confidence.
All Concrete & Masonry Calculators
Choosing the Right Calculator
- Pouring a patio, driveway, shed base, footing or post hole? Use the Concrete Calculator to get cubic yards and the number of 40, 60 or 80 lb bags.
- Building a garden wall, retaining wall or foundation wall? The Concrete Block & Brick Calculator counts blocks or bricks and estimates mortar.
- Laying a driveway, path or sub-base? The Gravel Calculator converts volume into tons using the density of the material.
- Filling garden beds or top-dressing a lawn? The Mulch & Topsoil Calculator gives cubic yards and bags at the depth you choose.
- Laying a patio or walkway? The Paver Calculator counts pavers and sizes the gravel base and sand.
Volume Basics for Concrete and Aggregates
Almost every material in this category is measured by volume. Multiply length by width by depth, making sure all three numbers are in the same unit. In the US, divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards, which is how ready-mix concrete, gravel and bulk mulch are sold. In metric, length times width times depth in meters gives cubic meters directly.
The most common mistake is depth. A 4 inch slab is 0.333 feet deep, not 0.4 feet. Our calculators handle these conversions for you, so you can type inches or centimeters directly.
Tips for Ordering Materials
- Add 5 to 10 percent extra for concrete to allow for uneven ground, form movement and spillage.
- Gravel compacts, so order a little more than the loose volume when you need a firm base.
- Bagged products are easier for small jobs; bulk delivery is usually cheaper above about one cubic yard.
- Check your local building codes for slab thickness, footing depth and reinforcement requirements.
Also available: the Retaining Wall Calculator for wall blocks, caps and drainage gravel, and the Asphalt Calculator for tons of asphalt for a driveway.
More tools for concrete work: the Sand Calculator, the Rebar Calculator for slab reinforcing and the Concrete Steps Calculator.