How we calculate

Every HowManyYards result comes from the same simple geometry the trade uses. There is no black box: the formulas and the constants are below, so you can check any answer by hand.

The formulas

The constants

Why weights are ranges

Loose materials like gravel, sand, and topsoil do not have a single fixed weight. The figure changes with stone size, composition, and especially moisture - wet sand can weigh noticeably more than dry. Rather than invent false precision, we calculate weight from a sensible midpoint and tell you the range, so you can order with a margin. Always round up and allow a little extra for settling and waste.

Sources

Our constants come from published, checkable references rather than guesswork:

• - The cubic yard to cubic foot relationship is a unit definition (1 yd = 3 ft, so 1 cu yd = 27 cu ft).
• - Concrete bag yields are the figures published by bagged-mix manufacturers such as Quikrete (an 80 lb bag yields 0.60 cu ft).
• - The standard 2 cubic foot mulch bag and common soil and stone bag sizes reflect what retailers stock.
• - Material weights per cubic yard are drawn from published material-weight tables and are given as ranges because density varies with moisture and grade.
• - Paint coverage (350 to 400 sq ft per gallon per coat) and seeding rates reflect manufacturer label guidance.

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