How this cubic yard calculator works
Every bulk material on a jobsite — concrete, gravel, topsoil, mulch — is quoted in cubic yards, and the conversion never changes. Whether you call it a cubic yard calculator or a yardage calculator, it's the same three numbers:
1 yd³ = 27 ft³ = 0.76 m³ · weight = yards × lb/yd³ for the material
At the defaults — a 12 × 10 ft pad, 4 in deep — the volume is 1.48 yd³, which you order as 1.5 yd³ because suppliers batch in quarter yards; the full chain is in the worked example below. The only two decisions that move the number are the depth (in inches, divided by 12 first) and, for hauling, which material fills the volume.
What a cubic yard weighs, material by material
A cubic yard is a fixed volume — a cube 3 ft on every side, 27 ft³ — but its weight depends entirely on what fills it, which is what decides how it hauls and whether it is sold by the yard or the ton:
- Concrete — 4,050 lb/yd³ (~2 tons): the heaviest common material; a yard is a payload on its own. Priced by the yard on the slab calculator.
- Gravel & crushed stone — 2,800 lb (1.4 tons): sold by the ton at the quarry; the gravel calculator handles the yard-to-ton step.
- Sand — 2,700 lb (1.35 tons): a hair lighter than gravel dry, heavier wet.
- Topsoil — 2,000 lb (1 ton): the tidy one-ton-per-yard figure, priced by the topsoil calculator.
- Mulch — 800 lb (0.4 tons): the lightest; two yards ride in a pickup where two yards of gravel would break it.
What depth do you need?
Depth is the input people guess at, and it moves the yardage one-for-one — double the depth, double the order. The common ones, so you set it deliberately:
- 2 in: a mulch top-up or a thin decorative stone layer — 0.62 yd³ per 100 ft².
- 3 in: a decorative bed or a stone top course — 0.93 yd³ per 100 ft².
- 4 in: a standard patio slab or a driveway base course — 1.23 yd³ per 100 ft².
- 6 in: a thickened slab edge, a deep gravel base — 1.85 yd³ per 100 ft².
- 12 in: a raised bed or a fill lift — 3.7 yd³ per 100 ft².
How many cubic yards per square foot?
| Depth | Per 100 ft² | 1 yd³ covers |
|---|---|---|
| 2″ | 0.62 yd³ | 162 ft² |
| 3″ | 0.93 yd³ | 108 ft² |
| 4″ | 1.23 yd³ | 81 ft² |
| 6″ | 1.85 yd³ | 54 ft² |
| 12″ | 3.7 yd³ | 27 ft² |
| Material | lb/yd³ | Tons |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete | 4,050 | 2.03 |
| Gravel / crushed stone | 2,800 | 1.4 |
| Sand | 2,700 | 1.35 |
| Topsoil | 2,000 | 1 |
| Mulch | 800 | 0.4 |
How to measure for cubic yards
- Measure length and width in feet; for an odd footprint, total it on the square footage calculator first.
- Set the depth in inches — the engine divides by 12 — and set it by the job, not by eye, from the depth guide above.
- Pick the material so the weight reads right for hauling; volume is the same whatever fills it.
- Read the exact yardage, then the order figure — rounded up to the ¼ yard suppliers batch in.
- Add a waste allowance yourself for uneven subgrade — 5–10% on stone and soil — since this tool converts, it doesn’t pad.
Worked example: cubic yards for a 12 × 10 pad
The default, worked line by line — a 12 × 10 ft pad, 4 in deep, filled with concrete:
volume = 120 × (4 ÷ 12) = 40 ft³
yards = 40 ÷ 27 = 1.48 yd³ → order 1.5 yd³
weight = 1.48 × 4,050 ÷ 2,000 = 3 tons · mulch instead = 0.6 tons
The rounding matters more than it looks: 1.48 up to 1.5 is a quarter-yard of insurance against a short pour, and short loads carry a surcharge that dwarfs the cost of the extra material. The weight line is what tells you whether it hauls in your truck or the supplier’s — 3 tons of concrete does not, 0.6 tons of mulch does.
What this cubic yard estimate doesn’t include
This is a clean volume conversion — it turns dimensions into yards and weight, and stops there. The job needs a few things it doesn’t add:
- Waste and over-excavation. Uneven subgrade drinks material; add 5–10% on stone and soil yourself.
- Compaction. Base stone and fill lose volume when compacted, so ordered loose yardage runs higher than the finished thickness.
- Delivery and short-load fees. A flat haul charge plus a surcharge under the supplier’s minimum load.
- Moisture weight. Wet sand and soil weigh up to 15% more than the dry averages in Table 2.
- Product-specific ordering. Concrete rounds to ¼ yard, bagged goods to whole bags — the material calculators handle those.
Cubic yard FAQ
How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard?
27 — a cubic yard is a cube 3 ft on a side, so 3 × 3 × 3. Divide cubic feet by 27 for yards; the calculator also shows cubic meters (1 yd³ = 0.76 m³) for metric spec sheets.
How do I calculate cubic yards from square feet?
Multiply the area by the depth in feet (inches ÷ 12), then divide by 27. 100 ft² at 4 in deep is 100 × 0.333 = 33.3 ft³, which is 1.23 yd³ — type any footprint above and the yardage recomputes live.
How many cubic yards do I need for a 12 × 10 pad at 4 inches?
1.48 cubic yards — 40 ft³ ÷ 27. Order 1.5 yd³, because ready-mix and bulk suppliers batch in quarter-yard steps and short loads cost more than the rounding. In concrete that volume weighs about 3 tons.
How much does a cubic yard weigh?
Depends entirely on the material: concrete about 4,050 lb (2 tons), gravel 2,800, sand 2,700, topsoil 2,000, mulch only 800. The material picker applies these estimating averages so the same hole reads in tons for hauling.
How many cubic yards fit in a pickup truck?
A full-size bed holds about 2 yd³ level full, but payload runs out first: figure half a yard of gravel or sand (roughly 1,400 lb), one yard of topsoil, or two yards of mulch. Anything heavier than that rides in the supplier’s dump truck.
How many yards of concrete for a 24 × 24 slab at 4 inches?
A 24 × 24 ft slab is 576 ft²; at 4 in deep that is 192 ft³, or 7.11 cubic yards. Order 7.25 yd³ in quarter-yard steps, and figure the ready-mix truck since that is well past hand-mixing. In concrete the pour weighs about 14.4 tons.
Sources and standards
The volume conversion is exact arithmetic; the weights are standard estimating figures the whole site shares:
- Exact conversions: 27 ft³ per cubic yard, 0.764 m³ per yard, 2,000 lb per short ton — definitions, not estimates.
- Standard estimating densities: 4,050 lb/yd³ concrete, 2,800 gravel, 2,700 sand, 2,000 topsoil, 800 mulch — matched across every TrowlCalc material page.
- Supplier batching: ready-mix and bulk aggregate sold in ¼-yard increments, which is why the order figure rounds up.
- The scale ticket: moisture moves real weights ±15% — the weighed load governs the invoice.
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