Stone quantities from trench size. A typical French drain runs a 6 to 12 inch wide trench, 18 to 24 inches deep, with 4 inch perforated pipe wrapped in fabric and clean stone to within a few inches of grade.
Pro habit: Order about 13.6 yd³; the pipe displaces a little, but settling into the fabric and trench irregularities eat the difference.
Use washed (clean) stone only. Stone with fines clogs, which is how a French drain becomes a buried wet spot. Line the trench with filter fabric, and figure roughly one 4 inch perforated pipe length per foot of drain. Weights are common industry approximations; confirm with your supplier before ordering.
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Multiply length by width by depth in feet, then divide by 27 to get cubic yards. This french drain calculator does it for you: enter length and width in feet and depth in inches, and it returns cubic yards, estimated tons, and truckloads. Add about 10 percent for compaction, spillage, and uneven grade.
French Drain runs roughly 1.40 tons per cubic yard as a common industry approximation (3/4" clean stone (standard) at about 2,800 lb/yd³). Moisture and material change this, so confirm the exact conversion with your supplier.
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