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Calculators / Ground cover

How much soil to fill or level your yard?

Measure the low spot and how deep it sits. You'll get the yards of fill or topsoil to order, or the bags for a small patch.

These are example numbers. Put in yours.

The low spot

Shape of the area
ft
ft

How deep, and what goes in

in

Measure the low spot in a few places and average them.

What you're putting down
What's there now
Bag size

Order this much

4.3 cubic yards

That's 4.5 yards of topsoil bulk, or 154 bags at 0.75 cu ft. It includes 15% extra for settling.

Area
300 sq ft
Depth
4 in
Bulk
4.5 yd
0.75 cu ft bags
154

area = 20 ft × 15 ft = 300 sq ft

volume = 300 sq ft × 4 in ÷ 12 = 100 cu ft

with 15% for settling = 100 × 1.15 = 115 cu ft

yards = 115 ÷ 27 = 4.3 cu yd

bags = 115 ÷ 0.75 = 154, rounded up

Grade

Near the house, slope it away. Code wants the ground to drop 6 in over the first 10 ft. Keep soil 6 in below the siding.

Bulk

At 4.3 yards, bulk beats 154 bags on price. A yard of soil weighs about a ton, so most pickups take one at a time.

How we work it out

Soil is sold by the cubic yard. We take the area times the average depth, then add extra because loose dirt settles after it rains.

cubic feet = sq ft × depth in inches ÷ 12

order = cubic feet × 1.15 for topsoil, × 1.2 for fill dirt

cubic yards = order ÷ 27

Bulk gets rounded up to the half yard. Bags get rounded up to the whole bag, at 0.75 or 1 cu ft each.

Over a lawn or tree roots, go easy. Grass pushes up through about ½ in at a time, and over 6 in smothers roots. Near the house, slope the soil away so the ground drops 6 in over the first 10 ft.

Where the numbers come from

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