Stone calculator
Rubber Mulch Calculator
Rubber mulch is sold by weight, not volume, and playground depths are set by fall height. Enter the area and depth for bags and pounds.
Your project
Landscape beds 1.5-2". Playgrounds 3-6" depending on equipment fall height.
Crews typically order 5-10% extra to cover compaction, spillage and uneven subgrade.
Delivered rubber mulch typically runs $200-$400 per ton.
Rubber mulch needed
1.89
US tons · includes 5% waste
- Area
- 480 sq ft
- Volume
- 4.67 cubic yards
- Volume (cubic feet)
- 126 cu ft
- Total weight
- 3,780 lb
- 40 lb bags
- 95 bags
- Density used
- 30 lb per cu ft (0.41 tons/yd³)
- Truckloads (15-ton)
- 1
- Estimated delivered cost
- $567
Quarry densities vary by source and moisture. Confirm tons per cubic yard with your supplier before placing a bulk order — a 10% density difference is a whole extra load on a big job.
The shareable link reopens this calculator with your exact inputs.
What rubber mulch is
Rubber mulch is shredded recycled tyre rubber, typically 30-35 lb per cubic foot — about a third the weight of stone and roughly twice the weight of wood mulch. It does not decompose, so it is a one-time placement rather than an annual top-up.
At 30 lb per cubic foot, one cubic yard weighs about 0.41 US tons, and one ton spread 2" deep covers roughly 400 square feet.
How to install it
Lay over woven fabric on beds. On playgrounds, the depth is a safety spec, not a preference: 3 inches for a 4 ft fall height, 6 inches for 12 ft, per the loose-fill surfacing tables. Contain it with a border that stands proud of the finished surface.
The mistake that costs the most
Treating playground depth as decorative. Loose-fill surfacing compacts and displaces under swings and slide exits — those zones need topping up and raking back annually or the tested fall protection is no longer there.
The math behind the calculator
Square feet × (depth in inches ÷ 12) = cubic feet. Cubic feet ÷ 27 = cubic yards. Cubic feet × 30 ÷ 2,000 = US tons. The waste allowance is applied to the volume before the weight conversion, which is how suppliers quote it.
Rubber mulch needed per 100 square feet
At 30 lb per cubic foot, before waste.
| Depth | Cubic feet | Cubic yards | Tons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1" | 8.3 | 0.31 | 0.12 |
| 2" | 16.7 | 0.62 | 0.25 |
| 3" | 25 | 0.93 | 0.38 |
| 4" | 33.3 | 1.23 | 0.5 |
| 6" | 50 | 1.85 | 0.75 |
| 12" | 100 | 3.7 | 1.5 |
Recommended depth by application
| Application | Depth |
|---|---|
| Landscape bed | 1.5-2" |
| Playground, 4 ft fall height | 3" |
| Playground, 8 ft fall height | 4-5" |
| Playground, 12 ft fall height | 6" |
Frequently asked questions
+How many tons of rubber mulch do I need?
Multiply square feet by depth in feet to get cubic feet, then multiply by 30 and divide by 2,000. A 500 sq ft area at 3" needs about 1.88 tons before waste.
+How many tons of rubber mulch are in a cubic yard?
Roughly 0.41 tons at 30 lb per cubic foot. Wet material weighs 5-10% more, which matters when you are buying by the ton and measuring by the yard.
+How deep should rubber mulch be?
Landscape bed: 1.5-2". Playground, 4 ft fall height: 3". Playground, 8 ft fall height: 4-5". Playground, 12 ft fall height: 6".
+What does rubber mulch cost?
$200 – $400 per ton delivered in most US markets, before the haul fee. Short loads carry a minimum charge, so half a load often costs nearly as much as a full one.
+How many bags of rubber mulch per cubic yard?
About 20 bags. A 0.8 cubic foot bag weighs roughly 40 lb, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet — so 27 ÷ 0.8 ≈ 34 bags of 0.8 cu ft, or around 20 of the larger 1.5 cu ft bags. Always check the bag volume, not just the weight.