Topsoil Calculator
Enter the area and the settled depth to get the volume of topsoil in cubic yards — the unit it is sold and delivered in.
The depth you want after watering in, not the depth off the pile
Showing an example. Change any figure to use your own.
- Cubic feet
- 33.73 cu ft
- Cubic metres
- 0.9552 m³
- Order this much
- 1.25 cu yd
length x width x depth x (1 + waste)
Assumptions and limits
Formulalength x width x depth x (1 + waste)
This tool reports volume only. No manufacturer publishes a density or a cubic-foot yield for this material, and we do not invent one — so there is no weight or bag count to state an assumption about. Volume is the unit it is sold in.
How to measure
Topsoil is sold by the cubic yard, and the depth you enter should be the settled depth you want after watering, not the fluffed depth off the pile.
Screened topsoil arrives loose and settles noticeably — a bed filled level on delivery day sits low a fortnight later. Plan for it rather than topping up twice.
For a raised bed, measure the inside dimensions and the depth you intend to fill, which is usually an inch or two below the rim so the soil does not wash over the edge when it is watered.
For a lawn repair or a level-up over existing grade, the depth is the added depth, not the total soil profile. Measure down from a string line to the current surface at the low point and at the high point; the average of several readings across the area is closer to the truth than one reading in the middle.
A worked example
Four raised vegetable beds, each 4 ft by 8 ft, filled to 11 inches inside a 12-inch frame.
One bed. 4 ft × 8 ft × 11 in = 4 × 8 × 0.9167 = 29.33 cubic feet, which is 29.33 ÷ 27 = 1.09 cubic yards.
Four beds. 4 × 1.09 = 4.35 cubic yards.
Settlement. Screened topsoil settles roughly 10 to 15 percent once watered in. At 15 percent the order becomes 5.0 cubic yards.
What to order. Five cubic yards, delivered in one load. Most yards will not split a delivery below their minimum anyway.
Run the calculation for one bed and multiply, rather than treating four beds as one large area. It is the same arithmetic, but it makes the per-bed number visible, and that is the number you check against the pile when the truck leaves.
Common mistakes
Filling a raised bed entirely with topsoil. Deep beds are usually filled with a coarse base — branches, wood chips, spent compost — for the bottom third, and topsoil above it. If you are doing that, calculate only the topsoil layer’s depth here, not the full frame height.
Forgetting settlement. This is the single most common shortfall. A bed filled exactly level on delivery day will sit an inch low by the end of the month, and an inch across a 4 × 8 bed is about 0.1 cubic yards — small per bed, but it is the difference between one delivery and an awkward second one.
Ordering fill dirt when you meant topsoil. They are different products at different prices. Fill dirt is subsoil for bulk volume and structure; screened topsoil is the growing medium. Ordering fill for a vegetable bed is an expensive mistake to discover after it is spread.
Assuming a cubic yard covers a fixed area. It covers 324 square feet at 1 inch, 162 at 2, 108 at 3, and 81 at 4. Depth halves the coverage every time it doubles, and that catches people out on large, shallow applications.
Ordering
Ask what “topsoil” means at the yard you are calling. Screened, unscreened, and blended — usually topsoil mixed with compost or sand — are three different products, and only the blend is ready for planting without amendment. Screening removes stones and root material; unscreened is cheaper and fine under turf, but not in a bed you will be hand-working.
Most yards have a minimum delivery of one to three cubic yards and charge one delivery fee per trip. If two projects are within a few weeks of each other, order once.
Ask where the truck can tip. Topsoil is heavy, and a pile in the wrong place is moved by wheelbarrow. If the beds are behind the house, find out whether the truck can reach the back garden before delivery day, not on it.