Material quantity calculators
How much material do you actually need?
Twenty-one calculators for the materials that are easy to under-order. Enter your measurements and get back the count in the units the material is really sold in — bags and cubic yards, squares and bundles, boards, sheets and posts.
Ground cover and soil
Mulch
1 cu yd covers 108 sq ft at 3 in
cu yd · bagsTopsoil
1 cu yd covers 81 sq ft at 4 in
cu yd · bagsCompost
1 cu yd covers 648 sq ft at 1/2 in
cu yd · bagsSod
A pallet covers about 450 sq ft
pieces · palletsAggregates
Gravel
1 cu yd covers 81 sq ft at 4 in
cu yd · tonsPea gravel
1 cu yd covers 162 sq ft at 2 in
cu yd · bagsRiver rock
1 cu yd covers 108 sq ft at 3 in
cu yd · tonsSand
1 cu yd covers 324 sq ft at 1 in
cu yd · bagsDecomposed granite
1 cu yd covers 108 sq ft at 3 in
cu yd · tonsHard surfaces
Concrete
45 × 80 lb bags = 1 cu yd
cu yd · bagsPavers
4 in of compacted base minimum
pavers · baseTile
10% waste for straight layouts
tiles · boxesOutdoor structures
Decking
A 2x6 plus a 3/16 in gap covers 5.6875 in
boards · joistsFencing
13 sections at 8 ft centers needs 14 posts
posts · sectionsRoof and envelope
Roofing
A 6/12 pitch multiplies the footprint by 1.118
squares · bundlesInsulation
Studs at 16 in o.c. take 9.4% of a wall
sq ft · bagsSiding
Courses = wall height ÷ exposure
squares · coursesStructure and interior
Quantities, in the units on the invoice
A number like 1.85 cubic yards is correct and useless when you are standing in an aisle. Mulch is sold by the bag and by the yard, and which is cheaper depends on your delivery fee. A roof is ordered in squares and delivered in bundles. Decking is priced by the board, drywall by the sheet, fencing by the section around posts that have to be counted rather than divided.
Every calculator here ends with a line telling you what to put on the order. That is the whole design, and it is why the ticket looks like something you would hand across a trade counter.
Everything runs in your browser
There is no account, no upload and no server doing the arithmetic. Nothing you type — measurements or the local prices you enter to compare options — is transmitted, logged or stored anywhere. It is also why the calculators keep working if your signal drops once the page has loaded, which matters in a yard or on a site.
Where the numbers come from
Geometry is exact and hard-coded, because geometry cannot drift: a 6-in-12 roof pitch multiplies a footprint by 1.118, a stud 1.5 inches wide every 16 inches takes 9.4 percent of a wall, and a paver base has to run past every edge of the patio it sits under.
Everything a manufacturer or a supplier decides — bundles per square, square feet per bag, bag volumes, the real width of a board — is a field you can change, filled in with the common value. Read the wrapper and type what it says. Where our numbers come from lists every constant on the site, which are fixed, which are yours to set, and the figures we deliberately refuse to publish.