How to use it
- Enter the length of the area in feet.
- Enter the width of the area in feet.
- Enter the depth of fill dirt in inches.
- Click Calculate to see cubic yards, tons, and cubic feet.
This calculator tells you exactly how much fill dirt you need for any landscaping or construction project. Instead of guessing, you get three numbers: cubic yards (what suppliers sell by), tons (what delivery trucks weigh), and cubic feet (useful for small areas). For example, a 10 ft by 10 ft space at 12 inches deep equals 3.7 cubic yards. At 1.3 US tons per cubic yard, that's about 4.8 tons of dirt. The result matters because ordering too little means a trip back to the supplier; ordering too much wastes money and leaves a pile in your yard. Read the cubic yard figure first—that's your order quantity. Then use tons to check truck capacity and spreader settings. The cubic feet number helps when comparing bagged soil at a garden store. Every calculation is instant, so you can adjust dimensions and see how depth changes the total before committing.
Pro tips
- Add 10% waste allowance for compaction, spillage, and excavation errors—better to have a little extra than run short.
- Round up to the nearest half cubic yard when ordering; most suppliers won't deliver partial fractions, and rounding avoids a shortage.
- Confirm the supplier's actual tons-per-yard for your specific dirt—moisture and composition vary, so 1.3 is just a standard estimate.
- Double-check that depth is in inches, not feet—mixing those units is the most common mistake and can triple your order.
Real-life examples
- Filling a new raised garden bed with topsoil or fill dirt.
- Leveling a backyard depression before laying sod or pavers.
- Ordering backfill for a foundation trench or retaining wall.
Case study
Before, Maria guessed she needed 5 cubic yards for her garden bed and ended up with 2 extra yards of dirt dumped on her driveway. After using the calculator, she entered 12 ft by 8 ft at 10 inches deep—getting 3.0 cubic yards and 3.9 tons. She ordered exactly that, saved $60, and finished the project in an afternoon.