Topsoil Calculator

Topsoil is for anything that will grow: new lawns, leveling under sod, and planting beds. Fill dirt is subsoil with little organic matter, cheap and stable, for raising grade or filling holes under something else. Compost is an amendment you mix in, not a soil on its own. Switch between them in the calculator.

Loose soil settles as it is watered and walked on, so the calculator adds 10 percent to topsoil orders. Planning raised beds? The raised bed soil calculator works out a topsoil and compost mix for several beds at once.

Measure the length and width in feet, multiply for square feet, then decide the depth in inches. For odd shapes, split the area into rectangles, circles, and triangles and add them up; the calculator lets you add as many areas as you need and subtract cut-outs like a tree ring or an air-conditioner pad.

No tape measure? Open the Draw on satellite map tab, find your address, and trace the outline. Or use Pace it off: count steps along each side. Measure depth in a few spots, because ground is rarely flat.

Want the area on its own first? The lawn size calculator measures any part of your yard and carries it into the other calculators.

One cubic yard covers about 81 sq ft at 4 in deep, or 162 sq ft at 2 in.

A cubic yard of topsoil weighs 2,000 to 2,700 lb (about 1.1 tons typical). Moisture is the big swing: the same pile weighs more after rain.

See every material side by side on the material weights chart.

It takes 36 bags of 0.75 cu ft to make one cubic yard, and each bag weighs about 60 lb. Bags cost more per yard but skip the delivery fee and the minimum order. Bulk is cheaper per yard once the delivery fee is spread over enough material.

With example prices of $3.50 a bag, $35 a yard in bulk, and $75 delivery, bulk starts winning at about 0.9 cubic yards. These are examples, not your local prices: type your own into the Order Ticket above and it recalculates the break-even.

Do not forget the labor. One cubic yard in bags means lifting 36 bags, about 2,200 lb in total, twice: into the cart and out of the car.

One cubic yard of topsoil weighs about 2,200 lb. A full-size half-ton pickup typically carries 1,500 to 2,300 lb, and a midsize pickup 1,100 to 1,700 lb. Your exact number is on the Tire and Loading Information sticker on the driver's door jamb.

That means weight runs out first. At the low end of a half-ton's payload, you can carry only about 0.68 cubic yards per trip, even though a 6.5 ft bed holds about 2.1 level full. A bed that looks half empty can already be over the limit.

The Haul Check in the calculator does this math for your truck and your load, and tells you how many trips it takes.

• Wet topsoil can weigh a quarter more than dry. After a rainy week, the same yard may not fit your payload. (The Engineering ToolBox)
• Ask whether it is screened. Unscreened topsoil is cheaper but full of rocks and roots. (Penn State Extension)
• Soil is sold by the ton at many yards. A ton of dry topsoil is a little under a yard. (The Engineering ToolBox)

• Ordering exactly the volume of the hole. Soil settles 10 to 20 percent, and you are back with a shovel in a month.
• Buying unscreened topsoil for a lawn. Rocks and roots make leveling miserable.
• Picking up wet soil in a half-ton pickup. Wet topsoil can weigh a quarter more than dry.
• Using fill dirt where grass or plants need to grow. Cap it with 4 or more inches of topsoil.