How many pounds of gravel does it take to cover one square foot

When you’re planning a project involving landscaping rock, a key question is how much material you will need.

Calculating accurately can save you money and headaches. You don’t want to order too little rock and not have enough to adequately cover your landscape. But if you order too much, you’ve wasted money—and wasted labor spreading it around.

There are two factors to consider when calculating the amount of landscape rock to order for your project:

  • The size of the space you’re covering
  • How deep you want the coverage

To calculate the size, measure the length and the width of your project area. Multiply those two numbers to come up with the square footage of your coverage area. So if your project is 18 feet long by 20 feet wide, your coverage area is 360 square feet.

Next decide how deep you want your coverage. For most purposes, about 2 inches of material will be adequate. If you’re using materials that are themselves larger than 2 inches, then the depth will probably be the size of the rocks, that is, you’ll just want one layer of 3-8 inch rocks.

The amount of landscaping rock you’ll need depends partly on what size of rock or gravel you want to use. This chart gives you some general estimates of how large an area 1 ton of several different types of material will cover.

Calculating Rock Needs

Material

Suggested Depth

Coverage Area per 1 ton

3”-8” rock

3”-8”

60 square feet

1”-3” rock

1”-3”

80 square feet

3/4”-1” screened gravel

2”

100 square feet

5/8”-1/2” screened gravel

2”

120 square feet

1/4-3/8” screened gravel

2”

140 square feet

Use this chart to come up with the amount of material you’ll need. You’ll take the square footage you came up with earlier when you measured your project area, then divide it by the coverage area number in the table above for the material you’re using.

So if you’re using recommended depth in the chart above, the basic formula you need is this:

L × W = Square footage of coverage area.

Square feet of coverage area ÷ coverage area per 1 ton = tons of rock needed.

Using this formula, you can see that if you’re looking to cover 360 square feet with 1”-3” size rocks, you’re probably going to need 4.5 tons. If you’re using smaller materials, say 3/4”-1”, you may need only 3.6 tons.

The team at MDI Rock is happy to help you figure out the depth of coverage you need for your project and help you calculate how much material you need. With more than 50 different kinds of decorative groundcover, we can also work with you to choose the right kind of material for your project.

We’re happy to work with all types of clients—professional landscapers or do-it-yourselfers—on their landscaping projects. No project is too big or too small.

We also deliver. MDI maintains a fleet of dump trucks and can deliver anywhere from across the street to across the country.  

Deciding How Much Gravel Is Needed for Your Project

How many pounds of gravel does it take to cover one square foot

Wondering how to measure how much gravel you need for your project? Not sure how much area a ton of gravel will cover? Or are you curious how much a load of gravel actually is?

These are just some of the questions you may be asking yourself when considering taking on a landscaping project with gravel.

When deciding on the amount of gravel that you’ll need, your estimate will depend greatly on the type of gravel that you choose, such as pea or crushed gravel. Keep in mind that different grades are found in particles from fine to course and can range from between 2-64mm.

Before you begin measuring, it’s important to first choose the type of gravel you’d like to use. Here we’ll take a look at how you can then go about figuring out exactly how much you’ll need.

How many pounds of gravel does it take to cover one square foot

Wondering how to work out exactly how much gravel you need? Consider first the location and total area of your project, taking as precise measurements as you can.

Once you have mapped out the scale of your project area, use the following guidelines and tools to help you calculate a more accurate measurement:

  • When planning to fill in your desired space, remember that gravel should be 8-inches deep minimum.
  • The following measurements are a general guide to the amount of gravel coverage per cubic yard 1 cubic yard = 3” depth for 100 square feet.
  • If you’re still not sure or want to get the most accurate measurement possible, you can opt to use a gravel calculator. This will take away all of the guess work and allow you to simply input the measurements of your driveway, the amount of gravel you want depth wise, and get an exact calculation.

Using a Materials Calculator for Precise Measurement

Our materials calculator is very simple and easy to use. It contains a list of relevant materials such as gravel, mulches and topsoil, and tells you the right amount of depth to aim for per material (in inches). Some common examples include 3 inches for mulch, 1 inch for concrete bedding sand and 4-12 inches for gravel depending on your project.

If your project is your driveway, for example, first measure your driveway and then enter the calculations: length and width of the selected area (in feet), then desired depth that you want for the gravel. Hit calculate and you’ll have your answer. Say you have a 12ft by 20ft driveway and want to add a depth of gravel measuring 10 inches deep. The gravel required would be 7.41 cubic yards (approximately 8.5 tons).

Our calculator can be used for plenty of other projects as well. You may have a flower bed that you want top soil for or an island that needs filling. You can customize the options to cater them to whatever project you have in mind.

Try the calculator to measure how much gravel you need for your project and feel free to contact us if you have any questions! Also, don’t forget to subscribe today to start receiving our exclusive promotions.

How much gravel covers a square foot?

A ton of gravel will cover approximately 100 square feet, 2 inches deep.

How many square feet does a 50 lb bag of gravel cover?

A 50 lb bag of pea gravel or 3/4 inches size gravel will cover 1.5 to 3 square feet with a standard depth of 2 to 4 inches deep. At 4 inches deep, a A 50 lb bag of pea gravel will cover 1.5 square feet.

What size area will 20 tons of gravel cover?

How much will 20 tons of gravel cover:- typically, for standard 2 inch depth, 20 tons of gravel will cover approximately 2160 square feet or 240 square yards or 200 square meters area. A ton of gravel will cover around 108 sq ft area for 2 inch depth, so 20 tons of gravel = 108 × 20 = 2160 sq ft coverage.

How much gravel do I need for a 10x10?

One bag of 50 pound of gravel yields 0.50 cubic feet and one yard of gravel yields 27 cubic feet, so number of 50 lb bags of gravel in a cubic yard = 27÷0.5 = 54 bags. For a 10×10 patio, 3 inches deep, you will need approximately 1 cubic yards, or 25 cubic feet, or 1.5 tons, or 54 bags of 50-Pound of pea gravel.