Everyday
Asphalt Calculator
Estimate hot-mix asphalt by the ton from your driveway dimensions, or count 50 lb cold-patch bags for a pothole repair. Includes overlay thickness guidance and editable local pricing.
How it works
Behind the numbers
Hot-mix tonnage follows one chain: length times width times thickness gives cubic feet, and compacted hot mix weighs about 145 pounds per cubic foot, or 1.96 tons per cubic yard. The waste allowance covers the extra material that settles during rolling. Thickness is the input most people get wrong, so the application presets fill in standard depths for driveways, heavy use, and overlays.
Cold-patch mode works differently because you buy bags, not tons. A 50 lb bag yields about 0.5 cubic feet of compacted material, so a 3 by 3 ft pothole at 2 inches needs about 1.5 cubic feet, or 3.45 bags before rounding, and the calculator rounds up to 4. The bag yield is editable because brands vary; check the label on the bag you buy.
The cost section stays editable because asphalt prices move by region and season. Enter your supplier's per-ton quote and delivery fee, and the page totals material plus delivery. For overlays, the thickness guidance matters more than the math: 1.5 to 2 inches over sound pavement, full depth where the base has failed.
FAQ
Questions, answered
How many tons of asphalt do I need for a driveway?
A 20 by 24 ft two-car driveway at 3 inches needs about 8.7 tons before waste (120 cubic feet at 145 lb per cubic foot). Add 10% for waste and rolling, which brings it to about 9.6 tons. The calculator does this from your exact dimensions.
How many 50 lb bags of cold patch do I need for a pothole?
A 50 lb bag yields about 0.5 cubic feet compacted. A 3 by 3 ft pothole at 2 inches deep is 1.5 cubic feet, so about 3.5 bags before rounding; buy 4. Always round up and add waste for compaction.
How thick should an asphalt driveway be?
Residential driveways with car traffic usually get 2.5 to 3 inches of asphalt over 4 to 8 inches of compacted aggregate base. Heavier vehicles need 3 to 4 inches. Overlays over sound pavement run 1.5 to 2 inches.
How much does a ton of asphalt cover?
One ton of hot mix covers about 55 square feet at 3 inches thick, 83 at 2 inches, and 41 at 4 inches. Coverage drops as thickness rises because each ton is a fixed weight.