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Topsoil chart calculator
Put your area, depth and waste in: 400 square feet at a 3-inch depth with 10% waste is 4.07 cubic yards exact, order 5.
★ CONSTRUCTION · GARDEN · TOPSOIL CHART
Topsoil Chart: 5 Cubic Yards for 400 Sq Ft at 10% Waste
On the defaults — 400 square feet at a 3-inch depth with 10% waste — you need 440.00 square feet of coverage, 4.07 cubic yards exact, so order 5 cubic yards. This is the TOPSOIL version — area times waste divided by coverage per cubic yard, with a lookup table for every common garden area — the stucco-chart page is the STUCCO version — the same divide-and-round-up model counted in stucco bags; the plaster-chart page is the PLASTER version — the same model counted in plaster bags; the joint-compound-chart page is the JOINT COMPOUND version — the same model counted in compound gallons; and the thinset-chart page is the THINSET version — the same model counted in thinset bags.
What does 4.07 cubic yards, order 5, mean?
It means that 400 square feet of bed, once 10% waste is added, needs 440.00 square feet of coverage, which is 4.07 cubic yards at 108 square feet a cubic yard — and since topsoil is sold by the whole cubic yard, you order 5. The exact figure and the order figure answer different questions: 4.07 is the arithmetic, 5 is the purchase, and ninety-three hundredths of a cubic yard of headroom is comfortable but not generous — which is exactly why the waste allowance matters here, because a deeper layer or a settling bed eats it at once. The part people get wrong is ordering the exact figure rounded down: 4.07 rounded down is 4 cubic yards, 432.00 square feet of coverage against a 440.00-square-foot need, and the last bed runs short. The other part people get wrong is applying the waste percentage to the cubic yards instead of the area: waste is 10% more surface to cover, not 10% more yards on top of a rounded order, and the two give different answers once rounding enters.
Three things to check before you trust the number
Is 3 inches really your depth? Three inches is the layer depth, and it is the figure the coverage line turns on: the 6-inch-depth branch totals 8.15 cubic yards exact against the 4.07 headline, so doubling the depth doubles the order on 400 square feet. A bed meant for lawn seed wants a thinner layer than a bed meant for new shrubs, and a depth measured at the deepest spot rather than averaged across the bed overstates the whole job — measure several spots and average them.
Is 10% waste enough for your ground? Ten percent is the waste allowance, and it is the figure the needed-area line turns on: the 0%-waste branch totals 3.70 cubic yards exact against the 4.07 headline, so dropping waste entirely saves only 0.37 cubic yards here and a full yard on larger jobs. Freshly tilled beds settle, sloped ground sheds soil in rain, and spillage on the driveway is real — flat, firm beds at 10% are reasonable, while loose or sloped ground wants 15% or 20%.
Did you measure every bed? Four hundred square feet is the area, and it is the figure everything else multiplies: the 600-square-foot branch totals 6.11 cubic yards exact against the 4.07 headline, so a missed bed adds two cubic yards to the order. Measure bed by bed, subtract paths and patios only if you genuinely will not top them, and add the edges and corners — narrow strips that are easy to forget and add up to a yard on a whole garden.
Worked example
On the defaults: 400 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste.
- Coverage per cubic yard: 27 ÷ 0.25 is 108 sq ft — one cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, and 3 inches is a quarter of a foot.
- Needed area: 400 × 1.10 is 440.00 sq ft.
- Exact cubic yards: 440.00 ÷ 108 is 4.07 cubic yards.
- Order: 4.07 rounded up is 5 cubic yards — area times the waste factor, divided by coverage per cubic yard, rounded up to order, with a 1e-12 epsilon guard so a true exact fit is never rounded up by float error.
And the other way: the area behind 4.07 cubic yards is 400 square feet, the depth behind 4.07 cubic yards is 3 inches, and the waste behind 4.07 cubic yards is 10%. With 0% waste the model honestly shows 3.70 cubic yards exact and an order of 4 — a smaller order, but still rounded up, unlike an exact fit where order equals exact.
Every branch, checked
- 400 square feet, 3-inch depth, 0% waste: 400 square feet, 3-inch depth, 0% waste: 3.70 cubic yards exact — order 4 cubic yards.
- 400 square feet, 6-inch depth, 10% waste: 400 square feet, 6-inch depth, 10% waste: 8.15 cubic yards exact — order 9 cubic yards.
- 600 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste: 600 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste: 6.11 cubic yards exact — order 7 cubic yards.
- 200 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste: 200 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste: 2.04 cubic yards exact — order 3 cubic yards.
The reverses, worked backwards
- Area behind 4.07 cubic yards: 400 sq ft — at 400 sq ft the figures are 4.07 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards.; at the lower neighbor the figures are 3.56 cubic yards exact — order 4 cubic yards.; at the upper neighbor the figures are 4.58 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards..
- Depth behind 4.07 cubic yards: 3 inches — at 3 inches the figures are 4.07 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards.; at the lower neighbor the figures are 2.72 cubic yards exact — order 3 cubic yards.; at the upper neighbor the figures are 5.43 cubic yards exact — order 6 cubic yards..
- Waste behind 4.07 cubic yards: 10% waste — at 10% waste the figures are 4.07 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards.; at the lower neighbor the figures are 3.89 cubic yards exact — order 4 cubic yards.; at the upper neighbor the figures are 4.26 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards..
What the defaults assume
The defaults are 400 square feet, a 3-inch depth and 10% waste, so the headline is one medium garden bed area at a standard top-dressing depth with a standard waste allowance. The model is a division, a multiplication and a round-up: the coverage per cubic yard is 324 divided by the depth in inches, because one cubic yard is 27 cubic feet and depth in feet is inches divided by 12; the needed area is area times one plus waste over one hundred; the exact cubic yards are needed area divided by coverage; and the order is exact cubic yards rounded up to the next whole yard, guarded by a 1e-12 epsilon so a true exact fit orders exactly that count rather than one more on float error. The area reverse is checked at 50 square feet either side, because 50 square feet at 10% waste is 55 square feet, or 0.51 cubic yards; the depth reverse is checked at 1 inch either side, because one inch on 400 square feet changes coverage from 108 to 162 or 81 square feet per yard; the waste reverse is checked at 5 points either side, because 5 points on 400 square feet is 20 square feet, or 0.19 cubic yards. The model does not include delivery, spreading labour, or different soil blends for different beds — price those separately.
Output · formula · meaning
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage per cubic yard | 324 ÷ depth in inches | 108 sq ft — 324 ÷ 3, because 27 cubic feet ÷ 0.25 feet is 108. |
| Needed area | area × (1 + waste ÷ 100) | 440.00 sq ft — 400 × 1.10. |
| Exact cubic yards | needed area ÷ coverage per cubic yard | 4.07 cubic yards — 440.00 ÷ 108. |
| Order | exact cubic yards rounded up (1e-12 epsilon guard) | 5 cubic yards — 4.07 rounds up to the next whole yard. |
| Area behind a target exact figure | exact cubic yards × coverage ÷ (1 + waste ÷ 100) | 400 sq ft — 4.07 × 108 ÷ 1.10. |
| Depth behind a target exact figure | 324 ÷ (needed area ÷ exact cubic yards) | 3 inches — 324 ÷ 108. |
| Waste behind a target exact figure | (exact cubic yards × coverage ÷ area − 1) × 100 | 10% — (4.07 × 108 ÷ 400 − 1) × 100. |
| Headroom in the order | order − exact cubic yards | 0.93 cubic yards — 5 − 4.07, comfortable headroom that waste alone must protect. |
| 400 square feet, 3-inch depth, 0% waste | same model | 3.70 cubic yards exact — order 4 cubic yards. |
| 400 square feet, 6-inch depth, 10% waste | same model | 8.15 cubic yards exact — order 9 cubic yards. |
| 600 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste | same model | 6.11 cubic yards exact — order 7 cubic yards. |
| 200 square feet, 3-inch depth, 10% waste | same model | 2.04 cubic yards exact — order 3 cubic yards. |
| Area behind 4.07 cubic yards | reverse | 400 sq ft: 4.07 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards. |
| Depth behind 4.07 cubic yards | reverse | 3 inches: 4.07 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards. |
| Waste behind 4.07 cubic yards | reverse | 10% waste: 4.07 cubic yards exact — order 5 cubic yards. |
| 0 square feet | same model | 0.00 cubic yards exact — order 0 cubic yards. |
| Negative area | same model | Area — 0 or more. |
| Zero depth | same model | Depth — more than 0. |
| 400 square feet, 0% waste | same model | 3.70 cubic yards exact — order 4 cubic yards. |
Lookup table: cubic yards by area at 3-inch depth, 10% waste
All rows at 3-inch depth and 10% waste, where one cubic yard covers 108 square feet. Find your area, read across to the exact figure and the order.
| Area | Needed area | Exact cubic yards | Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 110.00 sq ft | 1.02 | 2 cubic yards |
| 160 sq ft | 176.00 sq ft | 1.63 | 2 cubic yards |
| 220 sq ft | 242.00 sq ft | 2.24 | 3 cubic yards |
| 280 sq ft | 308.00 sq ft | 2.85 | 3 cubic yards |
| 340 sq ft | 374.00 sq ft | 3.46 | 4 cubic yards |
| 400 sq ft | 440.00 sq ft | 4.07 | 5 cubic yards |
| 460 sq ft | 506.00 sq ft | 4.69 | 5 cubic yards |
| 520 sq ft | 572.00 sq ft | 5.30 | 6 cubic yards |
| 580 sq ft | 638.00 sq ft | 5.91 | 6 cubic yards |
| 640 sq ft | 704.00 sq ft | 6.52 | 7 cubic yards |
| 700 sq ft | 770.00 sq ft | 7.13 | 8 cubic yards |
| 760 sq ft | 836.00 sq ft | 7.74 | 8 cubic yards |
| 820 sq ft | 902.00 sq ft | 8.35 | 9 cubic yards |
| 880 sq ft | 968.00 sq ft | 8.96 | 9 cubic yards |
| 940 sq ft | 1034.00 sq ft | 9.57 | 10 cubic yards |
| 1000 sq ft | 1100.00 sq ft | 10.19 | 11 cubic yards |
Who uses this
- A homeowner topping one bed area — 400 square feet at 3 inches and 10% waste is 4.07 cubic yards exact, order 5 — the lookup table covers the areas around it without touching the calculator.
- A landscaper pricing a job — the depth and waste branches price a deeper layer or rougher ground at once, so a quote can be adjusted before the soil is ordered.
- A builder ordering for a whole garden — the 1000-square-foot row scales the same model, and the reverses recover the area, depth or waste behind any quoted yard count.
- A DIYer checking a store recommendation — the headroom note shows why 5 cubic yards for 400 square feet leaves comfortable slack, so a recommendation of 4 yards can be checked rather than trusted.
Accuracy & limitations
Figures are the model’s own arithmetic on the numbers you type, computed from unrounded values and displayed rounded HALF_UP to 2dp. The main limitation is the inputs, not the arithmetic: whether the area includes every bed and edge, whether the depth is an honest average across the beds, and whether the waste allowance suits the ground condition are all judgement calls, and this page prices the figures you enter without checking them. This page is a calculation tool, not landscaping advice.
Cite this calculator
400 square feet at 3-inch depth and 10% waste needs 440.00 square feet, 4.07 cubic yards exact: order 5 cubic yards. Source: Bright Side Kit, https://brightoolbox.com/topsoil-chart/, accessed 29 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why order 5 cubic yards when the exact figure is 4.07?
Because topsoil is sold by the whole cubic yard and you cannot buy seven hundredths of a yard. Rounding down to 4 would leave 8.00 square feet uncovered; rounding up to 5 covers the full need with ninety-three hundredths of a yard of headroom, which is why the waste allowance must be honest on this material.
When does the order need no rounding up?
When the needed area divides evenly by the coverage: 324 square feet at 3 inches and 0% waste is exactly 3.00 cubic yards at 108 square feet a yard, so the order is 3. Exact fits are the exception, not the rule, and they vanish the moment waste is added.
Should waste apply to the area or to the cubic yards?
To the area. Waste is extra surface to cover — settling, uneven ground, spillage — so it belongs in the needed area before dividing by coverage. Applying waste to the yards after rounding gives a different, usually smaller, answer that understates the need.
How many square feet does one cubic yard cover?
It depends on depth: 324 divided by the depth in inches. At 3 inches it is 108 square feet, at 6 inches it is 54 square feet, and at 2 inches it is 162 square feet — which is why depth is the input that moves the order most.
Do I subtract paths and patios?
Only areas you genuinely will not top with soil. A path or patio saves the flat area but its edges still take soil to finish, so subtracting the full area without adding the edges back understates the job. When in doubt, leave small areas in and treat the saving as extra headroom.
How is a topsoil chart different from a siding chart?
Only the material changes: topsoil at 108 square feet per cubic yard at 3 inches against siding at 200 square feet per box. The model — area times waste divided by coverage, rounded up — is identical, which is what makes the chart pages comparable.