Materials & measurement
How much do you need?
Fast, accurate calculators for construction and landscaping materials. Give one your dimensions and it shows exactly how much to buy — with the formula and a worked example, so you can trust the number.
- Mulch CalculatorMulch is sold by the cubic yard in bulk and by the bag at the store. Measure your bed, pick a depth, and this works out how much you need both ways.
- Topsoil CalculatorTopsoil is sold by the cubic yard or ton in bulk and by the bag at the store. Measure your bed, pick a depth, and this works out how much you need.
- Sand CalculatorSand for paver bases, sandboxes, and fill is sold by the cubic yard, ton, or bag. Enter the area and depth and this works out all three.
- River Rock CalculatorDecorative river rock is sold by the cubic yard or ton in bulk and by the bag at the store. Enter the area and depth for all three.
- Sod CalculatorSod is sold by the pallet or the roll. Enter your lawn area and which one your supplier uses, and this gives the count with a trimming allowance.
- Grass Seed CalculatorGrass seed is applied at a rate per 1,000 square feet that depends on the species and whether you're starting a new lawn or overseeding. Enter your area and the rate for the pounds to buy.
- Fertilizer CalculatorLawn fertilizer is applied by a target amount of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet — not by product weight — because bags differ in strength. Enter your area, the nitrogen rate, and the bag's %N for the pounds of product to spread.
- Crushed Stone CalculatorCrushed stone is sold by the ton but spread by volume, so you need both. Enter the area and depth for the cubic yards — and, using the stone's density, the tons to order.
- Compost CalculatorCompost is spread in a thin layer to feed the soil. Enter your area and the depth for the cubic yards (bulk) or bags to buy.
- Fill Dirt CalculatorFill dirt is bulk subsoil for raising grade, backfilling, and leveling. Enter the area and depth for the cubic yards — and, using its density, the tons — to order.
- Pea Gravel CalculatorPea gravel is a small, rounded decorative stone for paths, patios, and ground cover. Enter the area and depth for the cubic yards and tons to order.
- Excavation CalculatorDigging soil out expands it, so you haul away more than the hole's volume. Enter the dig's size for the dirt to remove — in-ground and loose — and the truckloads to haul it.
- Raised Bed Soil CalculatorA raised bed is filled to its height like a container, not dug into the ground. Enter the bed's size for the total fill — and how it splits into topsoil and compost.
- Square Footage CalculatorSquare footage is length × width. Enter an area's two sides in feet and you'll get square feet, plus square yards and square meters.
- Cubic Yard CalculatorBulk materials — concrete, soil, gravel, mulch — are ordered by the cubic yard. Enter the area and how deep you're filling, and this gives the cubic yards (and cubic feet).
- Cubic Feet CalculatorCubic feet measure volume — length × width × height. Enter a box or space's three sides in feet for the cubic feet (and cubic yards).
- Pool Volume CalculatorKnowing your pool's volume in gallons is the starting point for dosing chemicals and sizing a pump or heater. Pick the shape, enter the dimensions and the average depth, and this gives the gallons.
- Pipe Volume CalculatorA pipe is a cylinder, so its volume is the bore area times the length. Enter the inside diameter and length for the gallons it holds — handy for flushing, chlorinating, or filling a line.
- Pond Volume CalculatorEnter your pond's size for the water volume in gallons — for sizing a pump, filter, or treatment — and the flexible liner you'll need to line it.
- Board Foot CalculatorA board foot is the volume unit lumberyards price hardwood by — one board foot is a piece 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long (144 cubic inches of wood).
- Stud CalculatorA stud wall gets one stud every 16 or 24 inches, plus one to close the far end. Enter the wall length and spacing for the base stud count and the plate lumber.
- Plywood CalculatorPlywood and OSB come in 4 × 8-foot sheets that each cover 32 square feet. Enter the area you're sheathing and this gives the number of sheets, with a waste allowance.
- Asphalt CalculatorAsphalt is ordered by the ton. Enter the area and how thick you're paving, and this estimates the tons of hot-mix asphalt — and the cubic yards — you'll need.
- Paver CalculatorPavers are bought by the piece. Enter your patio size and the paver's dimensions and this gives the number of pavers, with a cutting allowance.
- Paver Base CalculatorPavers sit on a compacted gravel base topped with a thin sand bed. Enter your area and the layer depths for the crushed stone (by the cubic yard and the ton) and the bedding sand.
- Concrete Block CalculatorA standard concrete block (CMU) is 8 × 8 × 16 inches, and it takes about 1⅛ blocks to cover a square foot of wall. Enter the wall size for the block count and mortar.
- Cinder Block CalculatorA cinder block is a lightweight masonry unit in the standard 8 × 8 × 16-inch size, so it covers a wall at the same rate as a concrete block — about 1⅛ blocks per square foot. Enter the wall size for the block and mortar counts.
- Retaining Wall CalculatorEnter the wall's length and height and your block's face size, and this gives the number of retaining-wall blocks and courses — the materials count, not the engineering.
- Rebar CalculatorFor a reinforced slab on a grid, this estimates the rebar — total linear feet, 20-foot sticks, and bar count — from the slab size and the spacing you choose.
- Mortar CalculatorEnter the wall area and whether you're laying block or brick, and this estimates the bags of mortar — with the bags-per-100 figure left editable, since it varies by mortar type and joint.
- Sonotube CalculatorA round form (Sonotube and similar) holds a cylinder of concrete. Enter the diameter, pour height, and number of tubes for the concrete volume and the bags of mix to buy.
- Concrete Slab CalculatorEnter your slab's length, width, and thickness for the concrete it needs — by the cubic yard (how ready-mix is ordered) and by the bag (for small pours).
- Drywall CalculatorDrywall is sold by the sheet. Enter the area you're covering and the sheet size, and this gives the number of sheets plus rough screws and joint compound.
- Flooring CalculatorFlooring — laminate, vinyl plank, hardwood, tile — is sold by the box, and each product covers a different area. Enter your room size and the box's coverage for the number of boxes.
- Tile CalculatorEnter the area you're tiling and the tile size, and this gives the number of tiles — and boxes — to buy, with a waste allowance for cuts.
- Wallpaper CalculatorEnter the wall area and how much one roll actually covers, and this gives the number of rolls — with extra for matching the pattern across strips.
- Baseboard CalculatorEnter the room's perimeter and the openings to skip, and this gives the linear feet of baseboard — and the number of stock pieces — to buy.
- Carpet CalculatorCarpet is priced by the square yard and cut from a wide roll (broadloom), so it's ordered differently from boxed flooring. Enter your room area for the square yards — and the run of broadloom — to buy.
- Insulation CalculatorR-value measures resistance to heat flow, and for a single material it adds up evenly with thickness. Enter your target R-value and the material's R-per-inch for the thickness you need.
- Paint CalculatorEnter your wall area and how many coats you're applying, and this gives the gallons of paint to buy — using the coverage figure for your paint.
- Gutter CalculatorAdd up your roof's eaves and this works out the gutter to buy, plus the downspouts and hangers to hold it.
- Roofing CalculatorRoofing is measured in squares — 100 square feet each. Enter your roof's footprint and pitch and this gives the squares, the shingle bundles, and the true (sloped) roof area.
- Shingle CalculatorShingles are sold by the bundle, and it takes about three bundles to cover a roofing square (100 sq ft). Enter your roof area for the bundles to buy, with a waste allowance.
- Metal Roof CalculatorMetal roofing goes on in panels, each covering its exposed width times its length. Enter your roof area and the panel size for the number of panels, with a waste allowance.
- Roof Area CalculatorA pitched roof covers more surface than the ground beneath it. Enter your building's footprint and the roof pitch for the true sloped area — in square feet and in roofing squares.
- Roof Pitch CalculatorRoof pitch is how steep the roof is — the rise over a run. Enter the rise and run and this gives the pitch in the usual x-in-12 form, plus the angle, the slope multiplier, and the percent grade.
- Fence CalculatorA fence run needs one post per section plus one to close the end. Enter the length and post spacing for the posts, sections, and rails on a straight run.
- Deck CalculatorEnter your deck size and the board size and this estimates the decking — boards, linear feet, and the joists under them. Material counts only, not a structural design.
- Stair CalculatorEnter the total floor-to-floor height and this lays out the staircase: the number of steps, the exact riser height, the run it takes up, and the stringer length.
- Stair Stringer CalculatorA stringer is the notched board that carries the treads. Enter the step count, riser height, and tread run and this gives the board length to cut and the number of notches to mark.