Raising grade, filling holes, leveling: get cubic yards and tons with settling built in, then order bulk fill dirt.
Raising 1,000 square feet by 6 inches takes 18.5 cubic yards of fill dirt, about 21 once settling is counted. Dirt projects run bigger than people expect. This calculator thinks in truckloads so you don’t have to.
Fill dirt is clean subsoil. Nothing in it decomposes, so once it settles that first 10–20% it stays put. That makes it the right material under new grades, in old pools and trenches, and anywhere the ground must not keep sinking. Topsoil goes on top, and only where something will grow.
The formula, with a worked example
cubic yards = (L ft × W ft × depth in ÷ 12) ÷ 27 × 1.15
tons = cubic yards × 1.25
Raising a 25 × 40 ft section by 6 inches: 500 cubic feet, or 18.5 cubic yards. With settling the calculator recommends 21.5, call it 22 yards, which weighs about 27.5 tons.
How much does a yard of fill dirt cover?
Loose fill dirt at about 1.25 tons per cubic yard (2,500 lb):
| Depth | 1 cubic yard covers | 1 ton covers |
|---|
| 2 inches | 162 sq ft | 130 sq ft |
| 3 inches | 108 sq ft | 86 sq ft |
| 4 inches | 81 sq ft | 65 sq ft |
| 6 inches | 54 sq ft | 43 sq ft |
How much does fill dirt weigh?
A loose cubic yard weighs about 2,500 pounds, or 1.25 tons. Clay-heavy or wet fill can reach 3,000. Dirt is usually quoted by the yard rather than the ton, so the calculator shows both and the delivery quote always reconciles with your project math.
Fill dirt FAQs
How many yards of dirt do I need?
Length × width in feet × depth in inches, divided by 324. Raising 1,000 square feet by 6 inches takes about 18.5 yards, or 21–22 with the settling allowance.
What is the difference between fill dirt and topsoil?
Fill dirt is subsoil with no organic matter: stable, cheap, structural. Topsoil is the living top layer that grows things and keeps settling as its organics break down. Build with fill and finish the top 4–6 inches with topsoil where anything will grow.
How much does fill dirt settle?
10–20%. Compacting in 6–8 inch lifts front-loads the settling. Loose-dumped fill does it slowly over the first wet year. Either way, order the extra up front. The calculator adds 15% by default.
How many yards of dirt are in a truckload?
A tandem dump truck typically hauls 10–14 cubic yards. Bigger projects arrive as multiple loads, and the per-yard price is what matters, not the truck count.
How much dirt does it take to fill an old pool?
Length × width × average depth. A 16 × 32 ft pool averaging 5 feet deep holds about 95 cubic yards. Compact a fill like that in lifts and cap it with topsoil. And check local code first: some areas require partial demolition of the shell before filling.
