Guides: 17 answers to the questions behind the calculators
A calculator gives you a number. These 17 guides answer the question that comes before it: how many cubic feet are in a yard, how thick a slab or a driveway usually is, how far apart joists go, what a yard of gravel weighs or costs.
Measuring and converting
Square feet, linear feet, board feet and cubic yards, and how one turns into another.
- How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard, and what one yard covers How many cubic feet are in a yard?
- How many wheelbarrows in a yard, by tray size and weight How many wheelbarrows are in a yard?
- How to calculate board feet How do I calculate board feet?
- How to calculate cubic yards from square feet and inches of depth How do I calculate cubic yards from square feet?
- How to calculate square footage of a room, a floor or a house How do I calculate square footage?
- What a linear foot is and how to calculate linear feet What is a linear foot?
Concrete and asphalt
Bags, posts, slab and driveway thickness, and what a pour or a paving job takes.
- How many bags of concrete each fence post takes How many bags of concrete per fence post?
- How many bags of concrete make a cubic yard How many bags of concrete make a yard?
- How thick a concrete slab should be, for a patio, a driveway, a garage or a shed How thick should a concrete slab be?
- How thick an asphalt driveway should be How thick should an asphalt driveway be?
Gravel, mulch and soil
What a cubic yard weighs, covers and costs, and how deep each material goes.
- How deep mulch should be, by plant and by material How deep should mulch be?
- How many bags of mulch make a cubic yard How many bags of mulch are in a yard?
- How much a cubic yard of dirt, gravel, sand, mulch or concrete weighs How much does a cubic yard of dirt, gravel or mulch weigh?
- How much a yard of gravel costs, and how a ton price becomes a yard price How much is a yard of gravel, and a ton?
Decks and walls
Joist spacing, batten spacing and what a deck costs to build.
- Board and batten spacing, inside and out How far apart should board and batten battens be?
- Deck joist spacing: how far apart deck joists should be, by the decking How far apart should deck joists be?
- How much it costs to build a deck, from the published figures How much does it cost to build a deck?