Type the area, the finished depth and any allowance your supplier gives you. You get cubic yards, with the arithmetic printed under the result.
4 inminimum compacted base under a patioICPI Tech Spec 2, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements: 4 in for pedestrian areas and 6 in for residential driveways over well-drained soil, and 2 to 4 in more on wet or weak soil in cold climates.
Cubic yards of gravel = square feet × (depth in inches ÷ 12) ÷ 27. A 200 sq ft patio base at ICPI’s 4-inch minimum is 2.5 cubic yards in place. Compaction takes more loose stone, and quarries sell by the ton, so ask the supplier for both figures. Call 811 before you dig.
Depth follows load and soil. The ICPI minimums are a floor, not a design.
Start here
You measure gravel in yards and buy it in tons
A tape measure gives you a volume. A quarry weighs the truck. The conversion between the two belongs to the stone in that bin.
This calculator gives cubic yards: area times depth, divided by 27. That is the only number geometry can give you.
Many suppliers price and load by the ton, because a scale ticket is exact and a heaped bucket is not. So the last step is a conversion from cubic yards to tons.
There is no single conversion. Tons per cubic yard change with the rock type, the mix of sizes, whether fines are washed out, and how wet the pile is.
So ask for it. “How many tons per cubic yard for this product?” The scale house knows the answer for its own bins. HyreYard holds no density data and will not guess one.
Ask about the delivery minimum too. A load minimum or a flat haul charge sets a cost floor on a small job, whatever volume you need.
What one cubic yard covers at each depth
HyreYard arithmetic: 27 cubic feet divided by the depth in feet. Use it to sanity-check the result above.
Depth
Sq ft per cubic yard
Where this depth fits
2 in
162 sq ft
A decorative top layer over an existing base. Not structural.
3 in
108 sq ft
A garden path or a stone bed.
4 in
81 sq ft
ICPI’s minimum compacted base for a patio or walkway on well-drained soil.
6 in
54 sq ft
ICPI’s minimum compacted base for a residential driveway on well-drained soil.
In-place volumes. Compacted base takes more loose stone than this; the supplier can tell you how much for its product.
Why the delivered pile looks like too much
Loose stone shrinks when it is compacted. A base that has not lost volume has not been compacted, and it will settle later.
Compaction has a published target. ICPI Tech Spec 2, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements asks for bases under patios and residential driveways compacted to at least 98% of standard Proctor density, ASTM D698. Vehicular areas use modified Proctor density, ASTM D1557 or AASHTO T180.
It is done in layers. The same document says to spread and compact the base in 4 to 6 in lifts with 7,000 lbf (31 kN) reversible plate compactors, and thinner lifts for lighter machines. Eight inches compacted in one pass leaves the bottom loose.
Why the compaction field starts at 0. How much loose stone shrinks depends on the stone, its moisture and the compactor. No published national figure covers “crushed stone”, so type the supplier’s figure for the product you buy.
Leave it at 0 when nothing is compacted. Decorative stone in a bed and drainage stone behind a wall are not compacted to a density. The geometry alone is the answer there.
Wet or weak soil in a cold climate: see the last row.
Residential driveway
6 in
A car is a heavier load, and the compaction test changes with it.
Residential street
8–10 in
Greater thicknesses are often used in regions with numerous freeze-thaw cycles, expansive soils, or very cold climates.
Any of these on wet or weak soil
add 2–4 in
In colder climates, continually wet or weak soils will require that bases be at least 2 to 4 in. (50 to 100 mm) thicker.
Your soil’s drainage class is a free lookup in USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey. Frost depth is set by your building department.
Base stone, drainage stone and bedding sand are different products
Two gray piles can look the same and behave differently under a load or in the rain. Ask whether the stone is dense-graded or open-graded.
Dense-graded locks together
A range of sizes down to fine particles, which fill the gaps. Compacted, it interlocks into a firm layer. This is base stone.
Because the gaps are filled, water moves through it slowly.
Open-graded drains
A narrow band of sizes with the fines washed out, so the gaps stay open. It goes behind retaining walls, around drain pipe and in dry wells.
It does not compact to a base density and is not meant to. Swapping the two stones puts each where the other belongs.
Bedding sand has its own spec
ICPI Tech Spec 2, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements calls for ASTM C33 or CSA A23.1 FA1 concrete sand under pavers, screeded to an uncompacted nominal 1 in.
It also names what not to use: “Masonry sand for mortar should never be used for bedding, nor should limestone screenings or stone dust.”
Decorative stone is a finish
River rock and pea gravel are round, so they roll instead of locking. They drift out of any area without an edge.
Treat them as the top layer, never the base.
The order the work goes in
1
Call 811 before you dig
The call is free, and utilities send someone to mark buried lines before you excavate.
2
Look up your soil
USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey shows the mapped soil at your address and its drainage class. Wet or weak soil adds 2 to 4 in of base in cold climates.
3
Set the finished level first
The surface has to shed water away from the house and meet doors, lawn and drive at the right heights. Work down from there.
4
Dig to full depth everywhere
Base, bedding and paver thickness, all the way to the edges. Edges carry load too.
5
Compact the soil first
ICPI Tech Spec 2, Construction of Interlocking Concrete Pavements treats compaction of the soil under the base as critical. Stone on soft soil stays soft.
6
Build the base in lifts
4 to 6 in at a time, compacted each time. Check depth with a tape in several places. ICPI: frozen material should not be compacted.
7
Bed and lay
Screed bedding sand to a nominal inch. ICPI warns against using it to level an uneven base: the dips show through.
What to ask the supplier, and what the ticket should show
Tons per cubic yard for this product
Not for “gravel” in general: for the bin you are buying from. It turns your volume into an order.
Dense-graded or open-graded, and its product name
Write that name into any quote. “Gravel” on a bid cannot be compared between bids.
Delivery minimum and haul charge
A flat haul or a load minimum can cost more than the stone on a small job.
Where it will be tipped
Check gate width, soft lawn, low wires and branches on the phone, not on the day.
A ticket that says only “load of gravel”
Ask for the scale ticket with the product name and net weight, and keep it.
A quote with no base depth
“Prepare base” with no number cannot be compared with “6 in compacted in two lifts”. Ask for the depth in writing.
Gravel alone does not fix a wet spot
Stone where water collects gives the water somewhere to sit. It moves only if it has somewhere lower to go.
The outlet is the design. Water has to leave: daylight on a slope, a permitted storm connection, or a dry well sized to the soil. Without one, start with grading and downspout extensions.
A new patio moves water. EPA notes that in developed areas “much of the land surface is covered by buildings, pavement and compacted landscapes. These surfaces do not allow rain and snow melt to soak into the ground which greatly increases the volume and velocity of stormwater runoff”.
Rain that soaked in where it fell now runs somewhere else.
Your soil group matters. NRCS hydrologic group A soils take water readily; group D soils shed it. The same detail can work on one and fail on the other.
Terms you will see on a quote
Subgrade
The native soil under everything. Its condition sets what the base has to do.
Base
The compacted stone layer that spreads the load. ICPI publishes minimum thicknesses by use.
Lift
One layer of base spread and compacted before the next goes on.
Proctor density
A lab reference for how dense a soil or stone can be packed. Field compaction is stated as a percentage of it (ASTM D698 standard, D1557 modified).
Dense-graded
Sizes down to fines, made to interlock. Base stone. Drains slowly.
Open-graded
Fines washed out, gaps kept open. Drainage stone.
Geotextile fabric
A separation layer between soil and base that keeps fines from working up into the stone. Not the same as weed fabric.
Edge restraint
What stops the patio spreading. ICPI asks for at least 1 in of vertical surface against the paver.
Scale ticket
The weighed record of what was delivered: product, net weight and date.
What this calculator cannot see
Tons. The conversion belongs to the stone in the bin. Ask the supplier.
Your base depth. Depth follows load, soil and frost. The ICPI minimums above are a floor to type in, not a design.
Your soil and frost line. On wet or weak soil ICPI adds 2 to 4 in. Your building department sets the frost depth.
Structure. Anything holding back soil or carrying more than a home driveway is engineering. HyreYard does not sell, deliver or install aggregate. Figures checked 5 September 2026.
Questions this calculator answers
How much gravel do I need?
Multiply square feet by depth in feet and divide by 27 for cubic yards. A 200 sq ft area at 4 inches is 2.5 cubic yards in place, before any compaction allowance.
How many tons is a cubic yard of gravel?
It depends on the stone, its size mix and its moisture, so there is no single figure. Ask the supplier for tons per cubic yard of the exact product you are buying.
How deep should a gravel base be?
ICPI Tech Spec 2 gives a 4 inch minimum under patios and walkways and 6 inches under residential driveways on well-drained soil, with 2 to 4 inches more on wet or weak soil in cold climates.
How much extra should I order for compaction?
Use your supplier’s figure for that stone. Shrinkage depends on the stone, its moisture and the compactor, and no national figure fits every product, so the field starts at 0.
Web Soil Survey (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, retrieved September 5, 2026). Free lookup of the mapped soil, its drainage class and its hydrologic soil group. A survey map, not a site test.
Nonpoint Source: Urban Areas (US Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved September 5, 2026). Hard surfaces increase the volume and speed of runoff. EPA gives no percentage, and neither do we.