First, choose the right material.
Before you start your project, you need to first ensure you’re choosing the right material for your specific project. Certain products are better for certain applications. You can contact us here to ask questions or check out our product descriptions for more help.
Second, measure once then measure again.
In order to determine how much material you will need, you need to know the size of the area you need filled. This requires you to measure the width, length, and depth. Once you have these numbers, be sure to write them down. Or draw it out on paper as accurately as possible to give you a good visual aid. Depending on the size of the area, you may want to use a measuring wheel instead of a measuring tape, and you may want to get someone to help you.When ordering, you need to be certain that you will have the right amount of material. Too little leaves bare spots, and if you purchase an excess, you will have wasted money. Accurately calculate the amount of material you need from your yard's measurements to ensure you buy what you need.
Convert.
How to get cubic yards? Measure by inches, convert to cubic ft, to cubic yards.
When you do the math, you need to ensure that your measurements are in the same units. To make it easy on you, always try to take your measurements in feet. If any area of your project is less than one foot, you need to convert the measurement from inches to feet, which you can do by dividing that number by 12. So, for example, if you had a depth of 6 inches, you would convert it to feet by dividing 6 by 12. So 6 ÷ 12 = .5 feet.Calculate the cubic feet.
Once all your measurements are in feet, you can easily calculate the total cubic feet of your project. This is done by multiplying the length x width x depth. If you have a 10’-wide x 20’-long driveway that’s .5’ deep, you would multiply 10 x 20 x .5 for a total of 100 cubic feet. Convert to cubic yards.
Since gravel is measured in cubic yards, you’ll need to convert your measurement from cubic feet to cubic yards. You can do this by dividing the total number by 27. In terms of the example above, your math would look like this: 100 ÷ 27 = 3.7, or 3.7 cubic yards. While this math may be easy for you to do on your own, you can also use our handy material calculator on any of our product pagesto receive the most accurate measurement for your project. If your number comes out as a fraction -- and it probably will -- round up. In the example above, you would round the 3.7 cubic yards of crushed stone to 4 cubic yards of crushed stone. It is better to have a little extra than to run short.
Areaformulas:
How to determine the area of a CIRCLE:
Multiply pi ( = 3.14) by the square of the radius, If you know the diameter, the radius is 1/2 of the diameter.
How to determine the area of a RECTANGLE or PARALLELOGRAM:
Multiply the base times the height.
How to determine the area of a TRIANGLE:
Multiply the base times one-half the height.
How to determine the area of a TRAPEZOID:
Add the lengths of the 2 parallel sides, divide by 2 to get the average length of the parallel sides. Multiply this by the height (distance between the parallel sides).
*Dirt Exchange is not responsible for quantities ordered in error. Please verify your calculations.
FAQs
1 yard is 3 feet long. Remember the width can change. It could be 60" wide, 72" wide or even 102" wide, but the length of a yard is always 36 inches or 3 feet.
How do you calculate yards? ›
To convert feet into yards, simply divide the measurement by 3. To convert inches into yards, simply divide it by 36.
How do you calculate how much material you use? ›
To calculate the quantities of materials, you need to multiply the total centre line length with breadth and depth of the construction. The centre line length will be reduced by half of breadth of every junction where the main wall is joined with the cross walls, partitions or verandah.
What is the formula for calculating material quantity? ›
Calculate Quantity of Materials
It's easy to figure out – simply take the total amount of square feet that were measured for the project, then divide the total amount of square feet by the coverage rate of the material.
What is the formula for material calculator? ›
If you would like to do the calculations by hand, the formula is simple: (Length) x (Width) x (Depth). Once you have your result in feet, divide by 27 to convert to cubic yards. If you'd rather not do the math, our aggregate calculator can give you an idea of how much of each material to order.
How do you calculate materials used? ›
To calculate the cost of materials used, you get the sum of every direct material cost consumed in the accounting period. The account for direct materials incorporates the cost of materials used and not materials purchased to estimate the production cost.
How do you measure by yards? ›
Determining how to measure a yard may be as simple as multiplying length times width.
Why is fabric measured by the yard? ›
Fabrics come in various widths, so a yard of the fabric refers to the length of material only. The material is unrolled from the bolt, and you should measure 36 inches or 3 feet. That's precisely how much a yard of fabric is.
How many yards is a piece of fabric? ›
One piece. If you just need one piece of fabric and it fits into the width of your fabric, you probably don't even need to be reading this, but we'll explain just in case! Take the total length you need and divide by 36 to calculate how many yards you need.
What size is one yard? ›
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches.
So a yard of fabric will typically measure 54 inches (standard width) by 36 inches (1 yard). At the most basic level, the amount of fabric you need for a project is a function of the width and length of your finished project.
How much does a yard of material cover? ›
A cubic yard of material can be spread to cover 100 square feet (10×10 foot area) at 3 inches of depth. It's a very helpful ratio because when spreading mulch, a depth of 3 inches is considered ideal.
How do I figure out how much building materials I need? ›
Calculate Quantity of Materials
It's easy to figure out – simply take the total amount of square feet that were measured for the project, then divide the total amount of square feet by the coverage rate of the material.
Is there an app to calculate fabric? ›
The KLS Fabric Calculator will allow you to quickly calculate how much fabric you need for a particular project or, given the size of fabric you have, tell you the maximum size of your stitching. The calculator is fully automatic so when you enter a value, all the other values will instantly re-calculate.
What does 2 yards of fabric look like? ›
What does 2 yards of fabric look like? 2 yards of fabric is the same as 72″, 6 feet, 1.8288 meters (rounded down to 1.8m), and 182.88cm. I held 2 yards of fabric behind a 5ft 8″ (173cm), XS mannequin. It's about 4 times her shoulder width.
How many square feet does a yard of material cover? ›
A yard of any material will cover approximately 100 square feet at 3 inches of depth.
