Gravel Cost Calculator

How this calculator works

Every figure in this calculator is the one published in the cost table on our gravel guide. Pick the option that matches your job and the calculator returns that published range, adjusted for your region - it does not model anything the guide does not already say.

That is deliberate. A calculator whose rates drift from the page it sits under is worse than no calculator, because two numbers on the same site disagree.

What it cannot know: access, the condition of what is already there, and anything structural. Those are what separate three real quotes from each other.

What actually moves a gravel driveway quote

The calculator gives you a fair budget from the published rates, but gravel is the surface where a cheap quote and a good one look identical on day one and completely different a year in. The difference is nearly all in the prep.

Sub-base and compaction. Gravel laid straight onto soil or a thin base sinks into ruts where the tyres track and spreads at the sides. A properly compacted sub-base is what stops that, and it’s the first thing a keen price trims. Ask what depth of sub-base each quote allows for.

Edging and membrane. Without a firm edge – timber, block or a mowing strip – loose gravel migrates onto the lawn and the pavement. A weed-suppressing membrane under the stone is cheap and does a lot of work; leaving it out saves a little now and costs you weeding for years.

Grade and depth of stone. Angular gravel locks together and stays put underfoot; rounded pea shingle looks tidy but rolls and scatters. The grade of stone and how deep it’s laid both move the material cost, and a drive walked and driven daily wants a different spec from a decorative border.

What’s there now. Laying over a sound old base is cheap; digging out a tired surface and carting it away is not. Make sure each quote is clear on whether it’s an overlay or a dig-out, and whether disposal of any spoil is included, before you read one price as beating another.

Drainage in your favour. Loose gravel is naturally permeable, so it usually lets rain soak away rather than running off to the road – which tends to keep it the right side of the front-garden paving rules. The government’s guidance on paving over front gardens explains when a surface needs planning permission; a permeable one like gravel generally doesn’t, but it’s worth confirming for your site.