Fill dirt calculator

Measure the area, set the depth. The ticket gives you yards, loads and cost.

Fill dirt is the cheapest thing a landscape yard sells and the easiest to under-order. It is subsoil — clay, sand and small stone with the organic matter gone — and it is sold to fill a hole, raise a grade or backfill a wall, never to grow anything. Because it goes in loose and settles hard, the number you measure is not the number you order; the calculator adds the settling allowance on top, and the ticket shows what that costs in loads.

Add an area

Depth

The finished depth of the fill dirt, not the hole.

Settling allowance

Extra volume as a percentage of the measured total. This is an addition, not a percentage lost to shrinkage. Confirm it with your supplier.

Density

tons/yd³

Placeholder range: 1.1 to 1.4 US short tons/yd³. Confirm the product density and whether it is loose or compacted.

Price per cubic yard

Material price only. Delivery, minimum charges and tax are excluded. The default is a placeholder.

How the number is worked out

Area times depth gives cubic feet, divided by 27 gives cubic yards. The settling allowance is added to the total: loose fill loses fifteen to twenty-five percent of its height as it takes rain and traffic, and if you order to the measured depth you will be back for more in spring.

area (ft²) × depth (ft) ÷ 27 × (1 + settling) = cubic yards

Fill dirt is not topsoil

Topsoil is the dark top layer with the organic matter that grass and roots need. Fill is what is under it. Fill is a third of the price and holds a shape; topsoil grows things. The usual job uses both: fill to bring the grade up to within 4 to 6 inches, then topsoil on top to seed or sod. Use the topsoil calculator for that last layer.

Screened or unscreened

Unscreened fill comes straight from the excavation — rocks, roots and clods included — and is fine deep in a hole nobody will dig in again. Screened fill has been run through a mesh and spreads evenly; pay for it where the surface matters or where you will plant on top. Ask what the fill came out of: a clean basement dig is good fill, a demolition site is not.

Put it in in lifts

A deep fill dumped in one go settles unevenly for years. Spread it in 6 to 8 inch layers, wet each one, and tamp or drive over it before the next. Done that way the settling allowance is insurance; skipped, it is a promise.

Typical jobs

Job	Depth	Then
Filling a stump hole or old pool	to grade, in lifts	top 4 in with topsoil, seed
Raising a low lawn	the low spot plus 20%	2 in topsoil over it
Backfilling a wall or foundation	in 8 in lifts	slope away from the wall
A shed or slab base	do not use fill	compacted crushed stone instead

Questions

How many yards of fill dirt are in a dump truck?

A single-axle truck carries about 10 cubic yards, a tandem 14 to 16. Fill is heavy — a yard weighs 2,400 pounds and more when wet — so the truck is usually limited by weight before volume.

Will fill dirt settle?

Yes, by fifteen to twenty-five percent if it goes in loose. Order the allowance, and place it in layers with water and a tamper if the finished level matters.

Can I plant grass in fill dirt?

Not well. It has no organic matter and it packs hard. Bring the grade up with fill and finish with 4 to 6 inches of topsoil.

What about free fill?

Contractors give away excavation spoil to save the dump fee, and it is often perfectly good. Look at it before it arrives: you want soil, not concrete chunks, asphalt or rubbish.

Other calculators

The same ticket, the same assumptions on screen, for whatever else the job needs.

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