Gravel, mulch and sod calculator: how much do I need?
A cubic yard calculator for stone, mulch and sod, with US tons and bags. Free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
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Pick what you're ordering and type your measurements, or try an example.
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The amounts show once these are filled in.
Worked from unrounded figures. Bags, pieces and pallets are counted from the rounded figure on the line above them.
Suppliers often quote 1.4 to 1.7 tons per cubic yard; ask yours for the density before ordering by weight.
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Measure twice, and confirm amounts with your supplier before you order.
Questions to ask your supplier
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Loose weights for stone and sand
| Material (Alabama DOT's name) | lb per cu ft | US tons per cubic yard | Pits and quarries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncrushed gravel | 84 to 101 | 1.13 to 1.36 | 48 |
| Crushed limestone | 70 to 98 | 0.95 to 1.32 | 79 |
| Crushed granite | 80 to 92 | 1.08 to 1.24 | 21 |
| Concrete sand | 82 to 105 | 1.11 to 1.42 | 62 |
Loose unit weight of every approved source in each class, from Alabama DOT List I-1, revised October 6, 2026. The pits and quarries are in nine states, Canada and the Bahamas.
US tons per cubic yard = lb per cu ft x 27 / 2,000.
How the gravel, mulch and sod calculator works
You measure the bed, the path or the patch of lawn, and type the depth you want in inches. Area times depth gives cubic feet, and 27 cubic feet make a cubic yard. That's the old rule of square feet times inches divided by 324, written out a step at a time so you can check each line against your tape. A path 36 feet by 3 feet, 3 inches deep, is 108 times 3 divided by 324: one cubic yard.
The extra is yours. Leave it empty and you get the exact amount. Type 10 and the extra shows up as its own line, so you can see what it adds before you pay for it.
How a material is sold decides what comes next. NIST's model rule for selling goods, the 2026 Handbook 130, says mulch is sold by the cubic yard or cubic foot, sod by the square foot or square yard, and sand, gravel, rock and topsoil by the cubic yard or by weight. So mulch never gets a tons line, sod never gets a depth, and stone gets both. Handbook 130 is a model that states can adopt, so we use it for how things are sold, not as your state's law.
Stone from one quarry doesn't weigh what stone from the next one does, so we don't pretend a yard of it weighs one number. For gravel, crushed stone and sand we use the loose weights Alabama DOT lists for every pit and quarry it approves. Crushed limestone alone runs from 70 to 98 pounds per cubic foot across 79 of them, which puts a cubic yard anywhere from 0.95 to 1.32 tons. A ton here is the US ton of 2,000 pounds. Type your yard's own figure and the range turns into one number.
Bags come from the label. Type the cubic feet printed on the bag and you get whole bags, rounded up, with the leftover shown. If the label gives only a weight, the calculator has to go through the weight per yard, which is why a range gives two counts. Every count comes from the rounded figure on the line above it, so the line and the count always agree.
Who this is for
You've got a weekend job lined up: a gravel path, the spring mulch top-up, a patch of new sod. You've measured, and you're about to call a landscape supply yard or load bags into a cart. You want one number to order, in the unit the seller uses, before the truck shows up.
This calculator stops at quantity. An odd-shaped bed goes through the square footage calculator first. A concrete slab lives on the concrete calculator, and fence posts on the deck and fence calculator.
There's no price here and no advice on depth, base or drainage. That part is the job, and a pro's call.
Homeowner questions about gravel, mulch and sod
How do I figure out how much gravel I need?
Measure the area in square feet, multiply by the depth in inches, and divide by 324. That's cubic yards. A path 36 feet long and 3 feet wide is 108 square feet. At 3 inches deep that's 324 divided by 324, exactly one cubic yard. Add an extra only if you want one, and ask whether the yard sells by the yard or by the ton.
How much does a yard of gravel weigh?
It depends on the stone. Alabama DOT's list puts loose uncrushed gravel at 84 to 101 pounds per cubic foot across 48 approved sources, so a cubic yard is 2,268 to 2,727 pounds, about 1.13 to 1.36 tons. Crushed limestone on the same list runs 1,890 to 2,646 pounds. Moisture changes it too, and the list doesn't say how wet its samples were. Ask your yard for their figure.
Is gravel sold by the ton or by the yard?
Either. NIST's model rule for bulk sales says sand, gravel, rock and topsoil "must be sold by the cubic meter or cubic yard or by weight." Which one you get is up to the yard, so ask before you order. A quote in tons needs a weight per yard to turn into a volume, and that figure is the yard's to give, not ours to guess.
How many square feet does a ton of gravel cover?
About 79 to 95 square feet at 3 inches deep, for uncrushed gravel weighing what Alabama DOT lists. That's 84 to 101 pounds per cubic foot, so a ton is 19.8 to 23.8 cubic feet. Heavier stone covers less ground. Your yard's own figure narrows it to one number.
How many bags of mulch make a yard?
Divide 27 by the cubic feet printed on the bag, then round up. If the label says 2 cubic feet, a yard is 13.5 bags, so you'd buy 14. At 3 cubic feet it's exactly 9. Go by the cubic feet on the label, not the weight: mulch is sold by volume.
How many square feet does a yard of mulch cover?
Divide 324 by the depth in inches. A cubic yard covers 162 square feet at 2 inches, 108 at 3 inches and 81 at 4 inches. Double the depth and the same yard covers half the ground. A bag works the same way: a 2 cubic foot bag covers 8 square feet at 3 inches.
How many square feet are in a pallet of sod?
It depends on the farm, so ask yours. We read four farms' own pages: Bethel Farms puts a pallet at about 400 square feet, Grassroots Sod at 450 or 486, Collins Wharf Sod at 500, and Tri-Turf at 450 or 540 depending on the grass. Type your farm's figure and the calculator counts whole pallets and shows what's left over.
How many pieces of sod do I need?
Take your square footage with any extra, divide by the area of one piece, and round up. Say the farm cuts pieces 16 by 24 inches: each covers 2.67 square feet, so 787.5 square feet takes 296 of them. A roll 2 by 5 feet covers 10 square feet, and the same lawn takes 79 rolls.
How much extra sod should I order?
That's your call, and the farms don't agree. Collins Wharf suggests adding 5% "to fill in odd spaces." Tri-Turf recommends a 10% waste factor. Curved edges and lots of cuts use more than a plain rectangle. The calculator adds nothing until you type a figure, and the extra shows as its own line.
How to calculate cubic yards of gravel or mulch
Square feet times depth in inches, divided by 324. Measure each bed or path at the ground, add the areas, and use the depth of the finished layer. Round only at the end: a 20 by 15 foot bed at 4 inches is 300 times 4 divided by 324, or 3.70 cubic yards, and 10% extra makes it 4.07. Stone and sand are often quoted in tons as well, which takes a weight per cubic yard. Mulch is counted by volume here. If a yard says "half-yard steps," round your order up to the next step yourself.
Sod calculator: square feet, pieces and pallets
Sod is sold by area, so there's no depth to type. Add up the patches in square feet, add any extra you want for cuts, and divide by 9 for square yards. Pieces and pallets come from the farm: one piece's size, and how many square feet or pieces a pallet holds. Pallets differ from farm to farm. And sod is a live crop, so the extra won't keep in the garage until next year.
Sources and last checked
- How each material is sold: NIST Handbook 130 (2026 edition), Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities, sections 2.9.3.1 (turf sod), 2.18.2 (mulch) and 2.29(a) (sand, gravel, rock and topsoil sold in bulk).
- Units: NIST Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C. 27 cubic feet = 1 cubic yard; 9 square feet = 1 square yard; 1 ton = 2,000 pounds.
- Loose weights: Alabama Department of Transportation, List I-1, Sources of Coarse and Fine Aggregates, revised October 6, 2026.
- Sod pallet sizes and extra: the Bethel Farms blog and the sod calculator pages of Grassroots Sod, Collins Wharf Sod and Tri-Turf Sod Farms.
Last checked: October 7, 2026 (loose weights version aldot-li01-2026-10-06).
More free tools for your project
- All free tools on Industry Oversight
Every calculator and generator we've built, in one list.
- Square footage calculator: rooms, L-shapes, circles and triangles
For a bed that isn't a rectangle or a circle. Bring the square feet back here.
- Concrete calculator: cubic yards and bags for a slab
For when the job is a poured slab, not loose stone.
Rather have someone else do the hauling? Find a landscaping company or a lawn care company near you.