Crusher Run vs Washed #57 for a Shed Base — and How Much of Each

Updated 2026-09-12 · Yardly

For a shed pad, the real question isn’t “gravel or not” — it’s crusher run or washed #57, because both are angular crushed stone and both beat rounded pea gravel, but they do two different jobs. Crusher run locks into a near-solid pad; washed #57 drains fastest. Here’s which to order by soil and shed, and the cubic yards and tons of each.

The two stones, in plain terms

• Crusher run (road base, dense-graded aggregate): crushed stone with the stone dust left in. The fines pack under a plate compactor into a firm, almost solid surface — great when you want the pad to feel locked.
• Washed #57: crushed stone washed clean of fines. More void space, so water moves through it instead of pooling — great when drainage is the priority.

Both are angular, both interlock, and both are standardized gradations (the classes in ASTM D448 mean the same thing at any quarry). The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute takes the same position for any load-bearing section: angular aggregate, not round.

Which to pick

Condition	Pick
Heavy shed, workshop, lot of equipment	Crusher run
Clay soil, poor drainage	Crusher run
Sandy or loamy soil, wet site	Washed #57
Want water to pass through fast	Washed #57
Best of both	Crusher run bottom + #57 top

If you can’t decide, the combo wins: 3–4 inches of crusher run locked in, then 2 inches of #57 on top for drainage.

The yardage is the same — the tonnage shifts a little

The volume formula doesn’t care which stone you choose:

(Pad length × Pad width × Compacted depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27 × 1.15 = loose cubic yards

Pad = shed footprint + 12 inches per side (a 10×12 shed → 12×14 ft pad). The ”× 1.15” is the compaction plus waste margin — crushed stone loses ~10–15% of its loose volume under a plate compactor.

10×12 shed, 12×14 pad, 5 in compacted:

• 12 × 14 × 0.417 = 70 cu ft ÷ 27 = 2.59 cu yd compacted
• × 1.15 = 2.98 loose cu yd → order 3

Now the tonnage, using each stone’s loose density:

• Crusher run: ~1.4–1.5 t/yd → 3 × 1.45 ≈ 4.4 tons
• Washed #57: ~1.3–1.4 t/yd → 3 × 1.35 ≈ 4.0 tons

So you order about the same 3 yards either way; crusher run just weighs a touch more per yard because the fines add mass.

Layer example (crusher run bottom + #57 top)

A 10×12 shed wanting both firmness and drainage, 5 inches total on a 12×14 pad:

• Bottom 3 in crusher run: 12 × 14 × 0.25 = 42 cu ft ÷ 27 = 1.56 × 1.15 = 1.8 cu yd crusher run (~2.6 tons)
• Top 2 in #57: 12 × 14 × 0.167 = 28 cu ft ÷ 27 = 1.04 × 1.15 = 1.2 cu yd #57 (~1.6 tons)
• Total: ~3 cu yd, ~4.2 tons, split across two materials

The gravel calculator runs each layer from its own depth and switches between yards and tons.

Build it right

1. Strip to firm subgrade, remove grass and topsoil.
2. Geotextile fabric across the whole pad so clay fines can’t pump up into the stone (the failure that dishes a pad within a few seasons).
3. Spread in 2-inch lifts, compacting each with a plate compactor before the next.
4. Screed level with a slight ¼-inch-per-foot slope away from the shed so water sheds instead of pooling at the sill.

Skip pea gravel and river rock as the structural layer — rounded stone never interlocks and migrates under the shed’s load. The gravel shed base guide covers the generic pad build; this article is the stone-choice call on top of it.

Keep reading

• Building the pad itself? The gravel shed base guide covers depth by shed size and the oversize apron.
• Same stone under a French drain instead? The French drain gravel guide covers clean washed stone around perforated pipe.
• Want the ton math before you call the yard? Cubic yards to tons lists the density factor for crusher run, #57, and everything between.

Frequently asked questions