Ready Mix Concrete Calculator: Volume and Truck Loads

Most UK suppliers require a minimum order of 1m³ to 3m³. Large national suppliers such as Hanson and Tarmac typically require 3m³ minimum. Smaller local suppliers often go down to 1m³, sometimes with a short-load surcharge of £50-100.

If your project needs less than 1m³, bagged concrete from a builders merchant is more practical. At 0.5m³ you would need about 50 bags of 25kg concrete.

Volumetric mixers are a middle-ground option for 1-3m³ jobs: they mix on site and charge only for what you use, with no minimum volume penalty.

Ready mixed concrete in the UK costs roughly £90-£130 per cubic metre for standard C20-C25 mix, depending on your location and supplier. Delivery charges typically add £50-£150 per load.

For a 3m³ driveway order from a local supplier, expect £350-£550 all in. Prices are generally higher in London and the South East than in the North and Midlands.

Get at least two quotes, as prices vary between suppliers by 15-20%. Some suppliers charge a fuel or distance surcharge for sites outside their normal delivery area.

A standard UK ready mix concrete truck carries 6m³ to 8m³ per load. Most suppliers use 6m³ as the standard delivery volume. If your project needs 10m³, you would need two loads.

The calculator above shows how many full and part loads your project requires. For 7m³, that is two loads. Ask your supplier if they can send a larger 8m³ truck for a single delivery.

Confirm truck capacity with your specific supplier when ordering, as it affects delivery timing and cost.

Ready mixed concrete is pourable for 90 minutes from batching. Initial set (firm surface) takes 6-8 hours. Full 28-day strength is when the concrete reaches its specified grade: around 75% arrives by day 7.

In cold weather below 5°C, setting slows considerably. Protect fresh pours with insulating blankets and avoid placing in freezing conditions without additives. Do not load the surface until at least 48 hours have passed.

In hot summer weather the window shortens. Have a larger crew and good organisation before the truck arrives.

C20 (GEN 3) suits most domestic projects: shed bases, garden paths, and general slabs. C25 (ST2) handles driveways and garage floors where vehicles park. C30 (ST3) covers structural footings and reinforced work.

Specify the grade and intended use when ordering. Your ready mix supplier will confirm the right specification. For reinforced slabs and strip foundations, C30 is typically the minimum.

Our mix calculator explains the relationship between grade, mix ratio, and cement content if you want to understand the numbers behind the grades.

Use ready mixed concrete for projects over 1m³. Below that, bagged concrete is cheaper and more flexible. A 1m³ pour needs about 100 bags of 25kg, which is a lot of mixing.

Ready mix arrives at consistent quality, removes mixing labour, and pours faster. The trade-off is that suppliers have minimum orders and the truck needs site access with reasonable clearance.

Use our bag calculator for smaller jobs, or this ready mix calculator when your volume crosses the 1m³ threshold.

Contact a local supplier 2-3 days ahead. Give them your volume in m³, concrete grade, intended use, and preferred delivery date. Confirm truck access: vehicles are 8-9m long and need 3-4m width clearance.

On the day, have formwork in place, tools ready, and enough people to spread and compact the concrete before the truck arrives. You typically get 90 minutes from batching.

For large pours needing two loads, confirm timing with the supplier so the second truck arrives before the first pour has started to set.

A standard single-car driveway (5m × 3m at 150mm thick) needs 2.25m³ of ready mixed concrete, or 2.48m³ with 10% waste. A double driveway (5m × 6m) at the same thickness needs 4.95m³, close to one full truck load.

Use C25 grade for driveways to handle vehicle weight and freeze-thaw cycles over UK winters. Lay on a compacted 100-150mm sub-base of MOT Type 1 first.

Our concrete slab calculator covers driveway dimensions in detail and shows volume for irregular shapes.

A 3m × 2.4m shed base at 100mm thick needs 0.72m³, or 0.79m³ with waste. That is below most minimum order quantities, so bagged concrete or a volumetric mixer is often more practical for standard shed bases.

For larger sheds (6m × 3m), you need around 1.98m³. At that point, ready mix becomes competitive. Our base calculator handles shed and outbuilding bases with volume and bag counts side by side.

Use C20 grade for shed bases without vehicle access. C25 if cars or heavy machinery will load the slab.

Yes. Select Fence Post Holes in the calculator, then enter the number of posts, hole diameter, and depth. A typical 100mm fence post needs a 300mm wide by 600mm deep hole. The calculator uses cylinder volume for each hole and multiplies by post count.

For 10 posts at those dimensions, expect about 0.42m³. That volume suits Postcrete bags rather than ready mixed concrete: roughly 42 bags of 20kg Postcrete.

Postcrete sets in 5-10 minutes when you pour water into the hole, making it far more practical for fence posts than batching a full ready mix order.

Unused ready mix returned to the truck is usually charged at the full rate. Most suppliers charge for the ordered volume regardless of how much goes in. Order as close to your calculated requirement as possible.

Have a backup area planned before the truck arrives. Any excess can top up footings, fill low spots, or pour a small additional slab nearby. Having a backup avoids waste and cost.

Adding 10% to your calculated volume (as the calculator does by default) already covers most pour losses. Do not add further buffer on top unless your formwork is unusually irregular.