Tons of stone dust for paver bedding, path topping or a base cap — screeded or compacted.
Stone Dust Calculator
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Depth is in inches. Entering feet here is the most common ordering mistake.
0 for screeded paver bedding; 10–20% where it is tamped as a topping.
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Delivered weight
0.70 tons
V = L × W × (depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27, then × 1.35 tons/yd³
Calculated with BuildCalculators.com
Calculated with BuildCalculators.com · buildcalculators.com/stone-dust-calculator
Estimates are for planning only — confirm quantities with your supplier or contractor before ordering.
Stone dust — screenings, quarry dust, crusher fines, depending on the yard — is the finest product of the crusher: pure fines with nothing coarse left in. It is bought for two different jobs that want two different calculations. As paver bedding it is screeded loose at exactly 1 inch, no compaction, because the pavers themselves bed it down. As a path topping or base cap it is spread and tamped like any base material, with a 10–20% allowance. The compaction field covers both: 0 for bedding, 15% for tamped work.
V = L × W × (depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27order = yd³ × (1 + compaction ÷ 100)tons = order yd³ × 1.35 tons/yd³1 ton ≈ 240 ft² at 1 inPaver bedding is a levelling layer, not a structural one — the strength is in the compacted base below. One inch, screeded with a straightedge over pipe rails, is the spec. Deeper bedding feels generous and is actually worse: thick fines layers rut and pump under load, and the pavers follow. If the base is wavy, fix the base.
The industry body for interlocking pavers (ICPI) specifies washed concrete sand for bedding, and manufacturers’ warranties follow that spec. Plenty of good landscapers in the Northeast use stone dust anyway — it packs harder, resists ants and washout, and has decades of patios behind it. Both work; sand drains better, dust locks better. If a warranty matters, follow the paper.
Compacted stone dust makes a firm, fine path surface — the same idea as decomposed granite at a lower price in most eastern markets, since screenings are a quarry by-product. Same rules as DG too: damp when compacted, edged, crowned to shed water, topped up every few seasons.
Screenings pack about like the crushed stone they came from — roughly 2,700 lb per loose cubic yard, moisture moving it either way. One ton is 20 cubic feet, which at the 1 inch bedding depth covers a satisfying 240 square feet: bedding is the rare aggregate job where a single ton goes a long way.
The screeded layer under a patio — compaction 0.
About 0.7 tons — the small line on the order
The 4 inch crusher run base under this same patio is about 3 tons — order both on one truck. Screed the dust over pipe rails and do not walk the screeded surface.
Screenings as the walking surface, tamped damp.
About 1.5 tons
Same method as a DG path: mist, compact, crown. In most eastern US markets this is the cheapest firm path surface a yard sells.
A fine layer tamped over coarse base to tighten the surface.
About 3.8 tons
A cap turns a coarse crusher-run pad into a surface smooth enough for a shed floor or bike parking — the fines fill the top voids and lock in.
At 2,700 lb per loose cubic yard.
| Depth | Coverage per ton |
|---|---|
| 1 in (bedding) | ≈ 240 ft² |
| 2 in | ≈ 120 ft² |
| 3 in | ≈ 80 ft² |
| 4 in | ≈ 60 ft² |
| Material | Packs | Drains | ICPI spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone dust / screenings | Very hard | Slowly | No — regional practice |
| Washed concrete sand | Moderately | Fast | Yes |
| Mason or play sand | Poorly | Poorly | No — never use |
Stone dust runs $25–$50 a ton delivered in 2026 — among the cheapest products at any quarry, because screenings are what is left after everything saleable is screened out. Bagged “paver sand” at hardware stores is the same idea at many times the price.
A ton covers 240 square feet at bedding depth, so the dust line on a patio order is often under a ton. Delivery fees dwarf material at that size: order the dust with the base stone on one truck, or collect it — a half-ton fits a pickup with capacity to spare.
East of the Rockies, screenings are local and DG travels — the same path surface can cost half as much in stone dust. West, the positions often reverse. Both compact the same way; colour is the visible difference (greys and blue-greys against DG’s golds).
Polymeric sand — the sweep-in joint filler with binder — is for the JOINTS between pavers, not the bedding under them, and costs $30–$50 a bag. Do not substitute it in either direction: bedding wants plain screeded material, joints want the polymeric.
Two or three inches of dust under pavers feels like generosity and behaves like a waterbed — the fines pump and rut under load, and the surface telegraphs every wheel path. One inch, over a base that was compacted flat in the first place.
Bedding is screeded loose; laying the pavers and the final plate pass over the laid surface do the compacting. Pre-compacting the dust breaks the levelling — the whole point of the layer.
One is a $30-a-ton quarry by-product for under the pavers; the other is a $30-a-bag jointing product for between them. The names blur at the store; the jobs do not.
Pure fines are the least-draining aggregate a quarry sells. French drains, soakaways and wet spots want clean washed stone — stone dust there packs into a pond liner.
About 2,700 lb — 1.35 US tons — loose. It is pure crusher fines (also sold as screenings, quarry dust or decomposed rock fines), so it packs tighter than the stone it came from.
One inch, screeded level over the compacted base — that is the bedding layer. A 12 × 14 patio takes 14 ft³, about half a cubic yard or 0.7 tons. The base underneath (4 inches of crusher run) is a separate, bigger order.
Both are used; regions differ. Stone dust packs harder and resists washout and ants better; concrete sand drains faster and is what ICPI guidance specifies. If your paver manufacturer states a bedding material, follow theirs — the warranty follows the spec.
Yes — compacted stone dust makes a firm, fine-textured path surface, the same idea as a DG path at lower cost in most regions. Keep it edged, crown it so water sheds, and expect to top it up every few seasons.
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