Estimate loose topsoil volume and bagged alternatives for a rectangular area.
Use this worksheet after deciding why soil is being added. Replacing missing planting soil, changing a grade and improving an existing bed are different tasks. A yardage result cannot tell you that importing soil will improve the site.
Utah State University Extension identifies salts, pH, texture, organic matter, coarse fragments and nutrients as quality considerations. Its numerical guidance is regional; ask a local soil-testing service to interpret results for your intended plants rather than treating one range as universal. Read the topsoil quality guidance.
UNH Extension recommends asking about soil origin, blend ingredients and test data, and explains that appearance alone cannot establish quality. Screening can remove larger debris, but the word screened does not supply a chemical analysis. Read its purchasing fact sheet.
For a hypothetical 12 × 8 ft area at 3 in additional depth, with factor 1 and no extra allowance, the need is 0.888889 cu yd. Supplier A sells a minimum of 1 cu yd at $45 plus $80 delivery: $125. Supplier B has a 2 cu yd minimum at $35 per yard plus $50 delivery: $120. B is $5 less but delivers 1.111111 cu yd above measured need, compared with A's 0.111111. Neither is the better soil merely because of its price. These are invented quote terms, not current prices.
Reproduce both offers in the multi-area planner below: use one 12 × 8 ft row at 3 in, factor 1, extra 0; change the bulk minimum, unit price and delivery for each offer. Save each result separately. Before selecting B, record where the extra soil could be used or what removal would cost. This calculator does not add disposal, tax or spreading labor.
Download the soil supplier comparison brief (.txt). Complete it alongside the quantity export; it keeps product evidence, purchase volume and cost scope together. No details are sent to a supplier by this site.
Material-choice review: November 2, 2026. These are planning choices, not a site inspection or a drainage specification.
These are independent worksheets. Inputs do not transfer between them. Use the download button beside the result you want to keep.
Whole packages round up. Prices include only the items you enter. Delivery, tax and installation may be extra.
Treat different fill depths as separate areas. If a low patch is counted at its full depth, it must not also remain inside the surrounding shallow rectangle.
A 20 × 10 ft area needs 2 in of measured fill. In the second case, a 5 × 4 ft low patch instead needs 4 in total: exclude its 20 sq ft from the broad rectangle and add a separate patch row at 4 in. Do not add a 4 in patch on top of an unchanged full-area 2 in row.
Original hypothetical scenarios for checking the arithmetic. Depths, conversion factors and buying increments are editable assumptions, not construction or product recommendations. The two cases are alternatives, not quantities to add.
Factor 1.2; extra 5%; bag yield 1 cu ft; bulk increment none cu yd; individual bags.
Factor 1.2; extra 5%; bag yield 1 cu ft; bulk increment none cu yd; individual bags.
Loading a case replaces the multi-area worksheet’s measurements and resets its prices to unknown. Save your own worksheet first. These buttons require JavaScript; all example quantities remain readable above.
The second scenario has 180 sq ft at 2 in and 20 sq ft at 4 in. Both use an explicitly hypothetical supplier conversion of 1.2 and 5% extra. Those factors must be replaced with the quote’s basis; they are not a universal settlement rule. Volume does not establish soil quality, drainage or suitability for planting.
Specify the selected soil or blend, screening and delivery basis, along with final grading requirements. Ask whether the supplier already included settlement or handling extra before applying either factor again.
Combine non-overlapping rectangles at different depths, subtract exclusions and round bags once for the total. All rows must use the same material. This worksheet is independent of the quick calculator above.
How to split an irregular area · How to compare a bulk quote with bags
Use the average fill depth. If soil will settle or be compacted, confirm the supplier’s extra-volume guidance rather than assuming one universal factor.
Length (ft): 16 · Width (ft): 12 · Material depth (in): 4 · Bag yield (cu ft): 1 · Extra material (%): 10.
These inputs produce 2.61 cubic yards to order. Change the measurements above to match your project.
Measure the fill footprint and divide it into depth zones. For each zone, use the average additional depth, excluding existing soil that stays in place. A soil layer for leveling is different from a specified root-zone mix for planting.
A 12 × 8 ft area with 3 in of fill uses 0.8889 cu yd before adjustment. An illustrative supplier factor of 1.15 and 5% extra produces 1.0733 cu yd. With 1 cu ft bags, that rounds to 29 bags. The 1.15 factor only illustrates how a supplied conversion changes the order.
Soil settles, but a universal settlement percentage is not a substitute for a product-specific recommendation. Adding a waste buffer and a settlement factor may double-count if the supplier’s figure already includes both. Volume alone cannot assess soil texture, fertility or drainage.
Specify screened soil or the required blend and discuss its intended use. Confirm quality information, delivery moisture condition, access, loose-volume basis and whether amendment or grading is separately priced. Keep planting recommendations outside this volume estimate.
Divide it into smaller areas with measured average depths. A single rectangle with a deepest-point depth overstates a wedge.
No. Soil composition and moisture affect mass. Use the supplier’s conversion only when comparing a weight-based quote.
This worksheet uses the geometry and editable assumptions shown above. Product specifications and local quotes determine the inputs.
YardTakeoff · Revised October 21, 2026 · Formula checks and scope · Report a calculation error