Landscaping calculator
Fill dirt calculator
Enter the area and the depth of fill, and get loose cubic yards, compacted volume, weight in tons and the number of truckloads to book.
Your project
Use the average depth across the area, not the deepest point.
Loose fill loses volume when it is compacted in lifts. Order the loose figure.
Fill dirt to order
21.33
loose cubic yards · includes 20% compaction allowance
- Area
- 480 sq ft
- Finished compacted volume
- 17.78 cu yd
- Loose volume (cubic feet)
- 576 cu ft
- Weight
- 27.4 US tons
- 10 cu yd truckloads
- 3 loads
- Estimated material cost
- $384
Fill dirt is often free if a nearby excavation needs somewhere to put it — you pay only the haul. Ask local excavators before you buy; clean fill is a disposal cost for them.
The shareable link reopens this calculator with your exact inputs.
How much fill dirt do I need?
Area times average depth, converted to cubic yards, then increased for compaction. A 20 ft by 30 ft pad raised 12 inches is 600 cubic feet finished — 22.2 cubic yards — and needs about 27 loose yards delivered if you are compacting it properly in lifts.
Average depth is the part that trips people up. Ground is rarely a uniform slab of missing dirt. Take depth readings on a grid across the area and average them, or split an irregular fill into two or three zones and calculate each separately.
Compaction matters because fill is sold loose and placed dense. Twenty percent is a fair allowance for ordinary landscape fill compacted with a plate or tracked in with a machine; a structural pad under a slab or driveway needs closer to thirty.
Fill dirt versus topsoil
Fill dirt is subsoil with the organic matter screened or dug away. That is a feature, not a defect: organic matter decomposes, and anything that decomposes under a slab, a patio or a driveway will settle. Clean fill stays where you put it.
It is also cheap, often a third to a fifth of the price of screened topsoil, and sometimes free from a site that needs to get rid of it. On any fill deeper than about eight inches, the sensible build is fill dirt to within six inches of finished grade, then topsoil for the growing layer.
Ask whether the fill is clean. Clean fill means soil, sand, clay, gravel and rock with no construction debris, no asphalt, no organics. Anything else creates voids and a disposal problem later.
Placing and compacting fill
Compact in lifts of six to eight inches. Dumping two feet of fill and running a plate over the top compacts the top four inches and leaves the rest to settle for the next three years.
Moisture content decides whether compaction works at all. Fill that is bone dry will not bind; fill that is saturated pumps under the plate. Slightly damp — it holds a shape when squeezed and crumbles when poked — is the target.
Slope the finished grade away from any structure at a minimum of six inches over the first ten feet. Fill placed flat against a foundation is how basements get wet.
Fill dirt by area and depth
Loose cubic yards to order, including a 20% compaction allowance.
| 6" deep | 12" deep | 18" deep | 24" deep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.4 cu yd (200 sq ft) | 8.9 cu yd (200 sq ft) | 13.3 cu yd (200 sq ft) | 17.8 cu yd (200 sq ft) |
| 11.1 cu yd (500 sq ft) | 22.2 cu yd (500 sq ft) | 33.3 cu yd (500 sq ft) | 44.4 cu yd (500 sq ft) |
| 22.2 cu yd (1,000 sq ft) | 44.4 cu yd (1,000 sq ft) | 66.7 cu yd (1,000 sq ft) | 88.9 cu yd (1,000 sq ft) |
| 44.4 cu yd (2,000 sq ft) | 88.9 cu yd (2,000 sq ft) | 133.3 cu yd (2,000 sq ft) | 177.8 cu yd (2,000 sq ft) |
Frequently asked questions
+How many cubic yards of fill dirt do I need?
Square feet times average depth in inches, divided by 324, then add 15-30% for compaction. A 500 sq ft area filled 12 inches deep needs 18.5 finished yards, so order about 22 loose.
+How much does a yard of fill dirt weigh?
Roughly 2,500-2,700 lb dry, and up to 3,000 lb wet. That is 1.25-1.5 US tons per cubic yard, heavier than topsoil because there is no organic matter bulking it out.
+How much fill dirt fits in a dump truck?
A single-axle truck carries about 5-7 cubic yards of dirt, a tandem 10-14, and a tri-axle 16-18. Dirt is heavy enough that trucks usually hit their weight limit before their volume limit.
+Is fill dirt cheaper than topsoil?
Considerably. Fill dirt runs $8 – $30 per cubic yard against $20 – $55 for screened topsoil, and it is sometimes free from excavation sites that need to dispose of it.
+Can I use fill dirt to level my lawn?
For the bulk of a deep raise, yes — but cap it with at least four to six inches of topsoil. Grass will not establish in subsoil, and a lawn seeded straight onto fill dirt fails within one dry summer.
+How deep can I place fill dirt at once?
Six to eight inch lifts, compacted between each. Thicker lifts cannot be compacted through their full depth with landscape equipment, and the uncompacted bottom settles later.