A gravel driveway needs about one cubic yard of rock for every 80 square feet at 4 inches deep. A 12 by 50 foot drive laid 4 inches deep takes about 7.4 cubic yards, so order roughly 7.8 to 8.2 once you add 5 to 10 percent for settling.
HARDROCK Sand and Gravel, a supplier in Sherman, TX since 2016, delivers the road base and crushed rock that go into a drive. This guide shows the arithmetic, the layers and the Grayson County ground conditions that change the order, so the number you give on the phone is one you trust.
Already have a drive that washed out? Skip ahead to fixing a gravel driveway after heavy rain.
Know your drive's size? Get a price.
Send the length, width and address of your drive and HARDROCK Sand and Gravel prices the load by phone.
or call 903-420-0330How do you calculate cubic yards for a driveway?
Multiply length by width by depth, all in feet, then divide by 27. Depth is the step people miss: 4 inches is 0.33 feet, 6 inches is 0.5 feet. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, which is why the divisor never changes.
Length × Width × Depth ÷ 27
Measure the real path, not the plan. A drive that widens at the gate or bulges into a turnaround is easiest to handle as separate rectangles: work out each one, then add the totals. These three examples use the same arithmetic.
| Driveway | Depth | Cubic feet | Cubic yards | With 10% extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 × 50 ft house drive | 4 in (0.33 ft) | 200 | ≈ 7.4 | ≈ 8.1 |
| 10 × 100 ft farm lane | 4 in (0.33 ft) | 333 | ≈ 12.3 | ≈ 13.6 |
| 12 × 200 ft rural lane, full build | 6 in (0.5 ft) | 1,200 | ≈ 44.4 | ≈ 48.9 |
Rounded to one decimal. Cubic feet are rounded to the nearest whole number.
A cubic yard is a measure of volume, not weight, so how a given material is sold depends on the material. HARDROCK prices each load by phone and says on the call how it is measured, so bring the cubic yards and ask.
How deep should driveway gravel be?
A drive that lasts is built in layers: a shaped, crowned subgrade, 4 to 6 inches of compacted road base, then 2 to 3 inches of top rock. The total is the number to put in the formula, not the 4 inches of top rock people picture.
That layering is why the table above ends with a 6 inch row for a full build. On soft clay, many builders also roll out geotextile fabric between the dirt and the base, so the base cannot work down into the mud. Our gravel driveway page walks through the full build, and the quantity changes when you only top up an existing surface.
Which gravel goes into a Grayson County driveway?
Two materials do most of the work: road base for the compacted lower layer and 57 rock for the top course. Road base packs into one firm layer; 57 stone drains and gives tires grip. Rounded pea gravel and river rock roll underfoot and are a poor top layer for a drive.
Split the total between the two. On a 6 inch full build, roughly 4 inches is road base and 2 inches is top rock, so the road base is about two thirds of the order. HARDROCK can deliver both loads in one visit, or build the whole drive; the delivery page explains what happens after the call.
Does Grayson County's soil change how much gravel you need?
Yes. Grayson County has blackland prairie across much of its area, sandy Woodbine soil in the west and loamy or sandy Post Oak Belt ground in the north. Clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, so on blackland a thicker base, and sometimes fabric, keeps the rock from sinking.
The Handbook of Texas puts average rainfall near 37 inches a year, and a lane that is firm in August can be soft in March. If your lot sits on clay or stays wet after a storm, plan for the 6 inch build, not the 4 inch top-up. Local pages cover the ground in more detail for Sherman and the wider Grayson County area.
What should you tell HARDROCK when you order driveway gravel?
Give HARDROCK Sand and Gravel the address, the length and width of the drive, the depth you plan and where the pile can go. Mention soft ground, a narrow gate or a culvert crossing too. With those details the load is priced and a delivery day set on the same call.
- Address and drop spot. A firm, level place close to the work, clear of wires and buried lines.
- Drive size. Length, width and the depth you chose, or the cubic yards from the table.
- Access. Gate width, overhead limbs and how soft the ground gets after rain.
- Crossings. A ditch or culvert on the lane needs rock at the outlet; see the rip rap page.
Call 903-420-0330 Monday to Thursday from 6:00 AM, Friday from 9:00 AM or Saturday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
What else do people ask about driveway gravel quantities?
Three follow-up questions come up once the driveway gravel arithmetic is done: how much extra to add for settling, whether a pickup truck can do the hauling, and how HARDROCK prices a delivered load.
How much extra gravel should I order for a driveway?
Add 5 to 10 percent to the calculated cubic yards to cover settling, compaction and spillage. A drive that works out to 7.4 cubic yards is better ordered as about 7.8 to 8.2 cubic yards.
How many cubic yards of gravel fit in a pickup truck?
Often only about half a cubic yard of gravel, because a half-ton pickup's payload rating limits the weight it can carry. A 7-yard driveway would take about 15 trips, which is why most Grayson County drives are delivered in bulk.
Does HARDROCK price driveway gravel by the yard or by the ton?
HARDROCK Sand and Gravel prices each load by phone, because the material, the amount and the address all change the number. Work out your cubic yards first, then call 903-420-0330 and ask how that material is measured and priced.
What should you read after this guide?
The other HARDROCK guide covers repairing a gravel driveway after heavy rain in Grayson County: the order of work, the rock to use and how to keep the next storm from washing the drive out again.
