The quantity is the easy half. The question that decides whether a driveway lasts is how deep the base goes, and that is set by what drives on it and what is underneath — not by how big it is. Pick the use below and the depth follows.
For driveways, parking areas, hardstanding and access tracks. Choose what will be driving on it, then enter the area.
Works in metric and US imperial — you choose at the start and can switch at any time. Every figure this calculator uses is published with its source, and the result comes with a printable order sheet. No account, no email, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
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All calculators · How to use them · The standards behind our figures
Working out the tonnage is the easy half. What decides whether a driveway lasts is how deep the base goes, and that is set by what drives on it and what is underneath — not by how big it is. Pick the traffic type and the calculator sets the depth: around 100 mm for foot traffic on a path or patio, 150 mm for cars and light vans on a domestic driveway, and more again for anything heavier.
Over firm, well-drained ground the standard depths are enough. Over clay that holds water, over made ground, or anywhere that was a garden until recently, they are not — and no amount of surfacing rescues a base built on soft ground. If you are unsure what is underneath, dig a hole and look before you order. This is the one judgement on this page that the arithmetic cannot make for you.
Around 1:80 away from the building, and get it right at base level. Every layer above follows the base, so a fall built in correctly here costs nothing; a fall missed here means using expensive surfacing material to correct a slope, which never looks right and never drains properly either. Dampen the stone before compacting, and work in 75–100 mm layers.
For cars and light vans on firm, well-drained ground, about 150 mm (6 in) of compacted dense-graded base. A path or patio taking foot traffic only needs around 100 mm. Heavier vehicles need more. Over clay, made ground, or recently disturbed garden soil, increase it — the subgrade matters more than the base depth does.
No. These are domestic figures for domestic loads. Anything carrying commercial traffic, anything supporting a structure, and anything on ground you are unsure about needs an engineer rather than a calculator.
Around 1:80, running away from the building. Build it into the base rather than trying to correct it in the surfacing layer above.
No. Lay and compact in 75–100 mm layers, dampening the stone first. Dense-graded material binds only near its optimum moisture content: dry and the fines will not lock, saturated and it pumps under the plate.