Concrete calculator: how much concrete a house needs
A 1,000 sq ft ground-floor RCC house needs about 57.8 cum of concrete: 42.5 cum of RCC and 15.3 cum of PCC. A G+1 house of 1,000 sq ft a floor needs about 93 cum. Enter your floor area, floors and foundation below for the concrete by element, with cement, sand and aggregate, then work out a single slab, beam or footing further down.
Concrete for the house · 1,000 sq ft built-up · G
57.8 cum
2,041 cft · RCC 42.5 cum and PCC 15.3 cum · 2.04 cft per sq ft of built-up area
By element
- Footings
- 8 cum
- Plinth beams
- 3.5 cum
- Columns
- 5.5 cum
- Beams
- 10 cum
- Slabs and sunshades
- 13.5 cum
- Staircase and lintels
- 2 cum
- PCC under footings
- 6 cum
- PCC floor bed, 100 mm
- 9.3 cum
Materials
- Cement, M25 RCC and 1:4:8 PCC
- 401 bags
- Sand
- 929 cft (9.3 brass)
- 20 mm aggregate
- 1,859 cft (18.6 brass)
Material cost at national-average prices
- All concrete, site-mixed
- ₹2.82 lakh
Reported 2026 ready-mix M25 prices ran from ₹6,100 a cum (Hyderabad) to ₹8,000 (Pune). Pick a city to compare.
Materials only: steel, shuttering and labour are extra. For the whole frame cost, use the RCC construction cost calculator.
Concrete for a house, by size
RCC and PCC together, with the cement for M25 RCC and 1:4:8 PCC. Isolated footings, 125 mm slabs. Built-up area is per floor.
| Built-up a floor | G | G+1 | G+2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 sq ft | 35 cum · 240 bags | 56 cum · 408 bags | 77 cum · 576 bags |
| 1,000 sq ft | 58 cum · 401 bags | 93 cum · 681 bags | 128 cum · 961 bags |
| 1,500 sq ft | 87 cum · 601 bags | 140 cum · 1,021 bags | 192 cum · 1,441 bags |
| 2,000 sq ft | 116 cum · 801 bags | 186 cum · 1,361 bags | 256 cum · 1,921 bags |
| 3,000 sq ft | 173 cum · 1,202 bags | 279 cum · 2,042 bags | 385 cum · 2,882 bags |
How the estimate is built: per 100 sq ft of built-up area, 1.35 cum of slab and sunshade, 1 cum of beams, 0.55 cum of columns and 0.2 cum of staircase and lintels. Footings, plinth beams and PCC follow the ground-floor area, and footings grow with the floors they carry. These are the quantities the house construction cost calculator uses.
Cement, sand and aggregate for 1 cubic metre of concrete
Nominal mixes are measured by volume, taking the dry volume as 1.54 times the wet volume. IS 456 allows them up to M20. A bag of cement is about 34.7 litres, so a measuring box of one bag's size gives the sand and aggregate for each bag.
| Grade (nominal mix) | Typical use | Cement | Sand | 20 mm aggregate | With each bag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M7.5 (1:4:8) | Lean PCC under footings | 3.4 bags (171 kg) | 0.47 cum (16.7 cft) | 0.95 cum (33.5 cft) | 4.90 + 9.81 cft |
| M10 (1:3:6) | PCC under footings and floors | 4.4 bags (222 kg) | 0.46 cum (16.3 cft) | 0.92 cum (32.6 cft) | 3.68 + 7.36 cft |
| M15 (1:2:4) | Plain concrete, floor beds | 6.3 bags (317 kg) | 0.44 cum (15.5 cft) | 0.88 cum (31.1 cft) | 2.45 + 4.90 cft |
| M20 (1:1.5:3) | RCC where exposure is mild (IS 456 minimum) | 8.1 bags (403 kg) | 0.42 cum (14.8 cft) | 0.84 cum (29.7 cft) | 1.84 + 3.68 cft |
“With each bag” is sand plus aggregate by volume: for M20, 1.84 cft of sand and 3.68 cft of aggregate, or 1.5 and 3 boxes. M25 and above should be a design mix (IS 10262), batched by weight to a tested recipe, which is how ready-mix plants work. Our estimates take, per cum, about 7 bags for M20, 8.2 for M25 and 8.8 for M30, with about 0.45 cum of sand and 0.9 cum of aggregate. The cement calculator compares nominal and design-mix cement grade by grade.
Concrete for a slab
Per 100 sq ft of slab, before the beams below it.
| Slab thickness | Concrete per 100 sq ft | Slab area per cum |
|---|---|---|
| 100 mm (4 inch) | 0.93 cum (32.8 cft) | 108 sq ft |
| 125 mm (5 inch) | 1.16 cum (41 cft) | 86 sq ft |
| 150 mm (6 inch) | 1.39 cum (49.2 cft) | 72 sq ft |
Concrete Calculator (Volume + Materials)
Volume of concrete for a slab, beam, column or footing, with cement, sand and aggregate for the selected nominal mix.
Result
- Wet concrete volume
- 4.05 m³
- Cement
- 32.7 bags (1,633 kg)
- Sand
- 1.7 m³ (60 cft)
- Aggregate
- 3.4 m³ (120 cft)
Dry volume = wet volume × 1.54. Bag = 50 kg (0.0347 m³). Nominal mixes per IS 456 Table 9 are allowed up to M20; M25 and above need a design mix (IS 10262) — the 1:1:2 figure is an indicative nominal equivalent. Add 2–3% wastage when ordering.
Related: concrete mix design (IS 10262) · concrete cube test · RCC rate per sq ft · steel calculator · RCC construction cost calculator · all calculators
Ready-mix or site-mixed concrete?
Ready-mix concrete (RMC) comes from a batching plant in a transit mixer, weighed to a design mix, with a batch ticket. Site-mixed concrete is batched in a mixer on site, often by volume. On materials alone, site mixing costs less in the four cities where we have reported ready-mix prices:
| City | Site-mixed M25, materials | Ready-mix M25, reported | Ready-mix M20, reported | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pune | ₹5,584 | ₹8,000 | ₹7,500 | Pune RMC Association, from 9 May 2026 |
| Mumbai | ₹5,984 | ₹6,600 | ₹6,200 | Construction Estimator India, April 2026 |
| Bengaluru | ₹5,425 | ₹6,300 | ₹5,900 | Construction Estimator India, April 2026 |
| Hyderabad | ₹5,277 | ₹6,100 | ₹5,700 | Construction Estimator India, April 2026 |
Per cum. Site-mixed is 8.2 bags of cement, 0.45 cum of sand and 0.9 cum of aggregate at our city prices (August 2026); our rate analysis adds about ₹283 a cum for the mixer, vibrator, water and curing, before the mixing gang. Ready-mix prices are as reported, with GST and without pumping. Plants revise them often, so get a fresh quote. A volume-batched mix also uses more cement: about 8.1 bags a cum for nominal M20 against 7 in a design mix.
Ready-mix usually suits
- Slabs and beams that must be poured in one go, without a cold joint. A 1,000 sq ft roof with its beams is about 23.5 cum at 125 mm.
- M25 and above, which should be a design mix; plants batch by weight and print a batch ticket.
- Tight city plots with no room to stack sand and aggregate.
Site mixing usually suits
- Small pours: footings, columns, lintels and staircases, a few cum at a time.
- PCC and other lean mixes.
- Sites a transit mixer cannot reach, or too far from a plant.
Before you order ready-mix
- Measure the formwork and order 2 to 3% extra for drum residue and spillage, up to 5% for uneven soffits. Reconcile the batch tickets after the pour, as in our material reconciliation guide.
- Ask for the minimum order, any part-load charge and the pump charge. Pune plants reported pumping at ₹425 a cum for pours of 40 cum or more (May 2026).
- Have the shuttering, steel, cover blocks, vibrators and labour ready before the first truck leaves the plant.
- Check the grade, slump and batching time on every ticket, refuse water added at site, and cast cubes for the cube test.
Frequently asked questions
How much concrete is needed for a 1,000 sq ft house?
About 57.8 cum for a 1,000 sq ft ground-floor RCC house: 42.5 cum of RCC in the footings, plinth beams, columns, beams, slabs and staircase, and 15.3 cum of PCC below the footings and floors. A G+1 house of 1,000 sq ft a floor needs about 93 cum (75.9 cum RCC), or 1.64 cft per sq ft of built-up area.
How much cement, sand and aggregate does 1 cubic metre of M20 concrete need?
For a nominal M20 mix (1:1.5:3) measured by volume: about 8.1 bags of cement (403 kg), 0.42 cum (14.8 cft) of sand and 0.84 cum (29.7 cft) of 20 mm aggregate, taking the dry volume as 1.54 times the wet volume. A design mix batched by weight needs about 7 bags.
What is the mix ratio of M20 and M25 concrete?
M20 is 1:1.5:3 (cement, sand, aggregate) as a nominal mix in IS 456. IS 456 allows nominal mixes only up to M20; M25 and above should be a design mix to IS 10262, with no fixed ratio. The 1:1:2 sometimes quoted for M25 is not an IS 456 mix, and by volume it would take about 11 bags a cum, against about 8.2 in a design mix.
How much concrete does a 1,000 sq ft slab need?
About 11.6 cum (410 cft) at 125 mm (5 inch) and 13.9 cum at 150 mm (6 inch). One cum covers about 86 sq ft of 125 mm slab. Beams below the slab are extra: with them, a typical 1,000 sq ft roof is about 23.5 cum.
Is ready-mix concrete cheaper than site-mixed concrete?
Not on materials. Cement, sand and aggregate for site-mixed M25 come to about ₹5,300–₹6,000 a cum at our prices for Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune, against reported ready-mix M25 prices of ₹6,100–₹8,000 a cum (2026, with GST). Site mixing adds a mixer, water and a mixing gang, and a volume-batched mix uses more cement. Ready-mix often makes sense for slabs poured in one go; small pours are usually site-mixed.
How much extra concrete should I order?
Measure the formwork and add 2 to 3% for ready-mix, for drum residue and spillage. Slabs with uneven soffits or hand-placed columns can justify up to 5%. Then reconcile the batch tickets against the measured volume after the pour.
How do I get the exact concrete quantity for my building?
From a BOQ measured from your drawings to IS 1200: every footing, column, beam, slab and staircase by its own size, with the deductions the code allows. These estimates use typical quantities for an RCC-framed house; your grid, spans and foundation decide the real volume.
Need the exact concrete quantity?
Send your drawings and we measure the concrete of every footing, column, beam and slab, with the cement, sand, aggregate and steel, in an Excel BOQ. BOQs start from ₹2,500 per project.
BOQ from your drawings