Material & Unit Calculators
These material calculators handle the area, volume and unit conversions that every building and landscaping project starts from. Use square footage and square foot tools for surfaces, cubic yard and cubic feet tools for bulk volume, board foot for lumber, and the conversion tools to move between yards and tons. Each links to the material calculators that use it.
Base area tool; the hub demonstrates the simplest calculation and links to all utilities.
- Square feet
- 0 sq ft
- Square yards
- 0 sq yd
Enter your dimensions to see the area.
Estimate only. Densities, yields and prices vary by supplier, moisture and region; confirm before ordering.
What Calculators Do You Need for a Materials Project?
Almost every materials project starts from one of two numbers: an area or a volume. Surfaces like paint, flooring and tile start from square footage. Bulk materials like concrete, gravel and mulch start from cubic yards or cubic feet. Lumber is measured in board feet, and bulk materials are often priced by the ton, which means converting from yards. The tools below cover each of these base calculations, and each links to the material pages that build on it.
Why Is the Cubic Yard the Key Unit?
The cubic yard is the central unit for bulk materials in the United States because concrete, gravel, mulch, sand and soil are all ordered in cubic yards. One cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet. Getting comfortable with cubic yards, and with converting to tons for materials priced by weight, is the foundation of estimating almost any landscaping or construction order, which is why these conversion tools sit at the center of the site.
Calculators in this family
Frequently asked questions
- What is the most useful calculator for a building project?
- It depends on what you are estimating. Surfaces (paint, flooring, tile) use the square footage calculator, while bulk materials (concrete, gravel, soil) use the cubic yard calculator. Both are linked here.
- How do I convert between cubic yards and tons?
- Multiply cubic yards by the material's density in tons per cubic yard (about 1.4 for gravel). The yards-to-tons calculator does this and lets you set the material.