Decomposed Granite Calculator for Driveways
A decomposed granite driveway needs 4 inches of DG over a compacted base, and it has to be stabilised — plain DG will not hold up to vehicle traffic.
Work out what you need
Measure the area, set the depth, and this converts it to cubic yards, what it weighs on the truck, how many bags that replaces, and roughly what it should cost delivered.
Weight is quoted as a band because moisture moves it more than grade does — decomposed granite after heavy rain runs to about 110% of its dry weight. The delivered range starts from a published $25–70 per cubic yard and is scaled by how your region's material prices compare with the national average, so treat it as a sanity check and not a quote.
Get a real price from yards near youNot a driveway? The landscape rock guide covers every other job.
Why 4–6 inches for a driveway
Stabilised DG carries a binder that sets the fines into a firm surface. Without it, tyres break the crust and the driveway turns into ruts and dust.
What goes wrong
It is not a wet-climate material. Where it rains hard and often, DG moves — crushed stone is the honest answer there, even though it looks worse.
Laid loose and left uncompacted it tracks indoors on every shoe and washes out in the first storm. It is a material that has to be rolled.
Decomposed Granite by the numbers
| Weight per cubic yard | 2,800–3,000 lb dry |
|---|---|
| Tons per cubic yard | about 1.5 |
| Bags in a cubic yard | 54 × 0.5 cu ft bags |
| Half-ton pickup, one trip | about 0.25 cubic yards |
| Usually priced by the | cubic yard |
| Typical delivered price | $25–70 per cubic yard |
Granite weathered down to grit and fines. Compacted, it sets to a firm surface; the fines are the whole point and screening them out ruins it.