Topsoil Coverage Chart: Cubic Yards & Tons by Area & Depth

What does 0.93 cubic yards mean?

It means a 100-square-foot bed at 3 inches deep needs just under one cubic yard of topsoil: 100 × 3 ÷ 324 is 0.93, and at 1.35 tons per loose yard that is 1.25 tons. The 324 is the whole story in miniature — a cubic yard holds 27 cubic feet, and a foot holds 12 inches, so 27 × 12 is 324, the divisor that turns square feet times inches into cubic yards. The part people get wrong is dividing by 27 and forgetting the inches: 100 × 3 ÷ 27 is 11.11, which is twelve times too much, and the fix is the 324.

Three things to check before you trust the number

Is the area really 100 square feet? Beds are rarely rectangles: an L-shaped bed measured as one big rectangle overstates the area, and the yardage follows it exactly — the 200-square-foot branch needs 1.85 yards and the 50-square-foot branch needs 0.46, so a 50-square-foot measuring error moves the order by about half a yard. Split irregular beds into rectangles and add the areas.

Is the depth really 3 inches? Depth is where the money hides, because yardage scales exactly with it: the 6-inch branch needs 1.85 yards, double the 3-inch figure, and the 1-inch branch needs 0.31. Measure the depth you actually want after settling, not the depth of the loose pile — loose topsoil settles by roughly a fifth, so a 3-inch finished layer wants about 3.75 inches loose.

Have you ordered the rounded-up figure? This chart gives the exact yardage and the order quantity separately for a reason: suppliers sell whole yards, and a partial yard is still a yard you must buy. The headline exact figure is 0.93 yards but the order is 1 yard, and the 500-square-foot branch is 6.17 yards exact but 7 yards to order — ordering the exact figure leaves the last corner of the bed bare.

Worked example

On the defaults: 100 square feet, 3 inches deep.

1. Cubic yards: 100 × 3 ÷ 324 is 0.93 cubic yards.
2. Tons: 0.93 × 1.35 is 1.25 tons.
3. Order: 0.93 rounded up is 1 yard.

And the other way: the area needing exactly 2 cubic yards at 3 inches is 216 square feet, the depth needing exactly 1 cubic yard over 100 square feet is 3.24 inches, and the depth needing exactly 2.50 tons over 100 square feet is 6 inches.

Topsoil lookup: area × depth, loose topsoil at 1.35 tons per yard

Every branch, checked

• 200 square feet at 3 inches: 200 square feet at 3 inches: 1.85 cubic yards, 2.50 tons — order 2 yards.
• 50 square feet at 3 inches: 50 square feet at 3 inches: 0.46 cubic yards, 0.63 tons — order 1 yard.
• 100 square feet at 6 inches: 100 square feet at 6 inches: 1.85 cubic yards, 2.50 tons — order 2 yards.
• 100 square feet at 2 inches: 100 square feet at 2 inches: 0.62 cubic yards, 0.83 tons — order 1 yard.
• 100 square feet at 1 inch: 100 square feet at 1 inch: 0.31 cubic yards, 0.42 tons — order 1 yard.
• 500 square feet at 4 inches: 500 square feet at 4 inches: 6.17 cubic yards, 8.33 tons — order 7 yards.

The reverses, worked backwards

• Area needing exactly 2 cubic yards at 3 inches: 216 sq ft — at 216 sq ft the figures are 2.00 cubic yards, 2.70 tons — order 2 yards.; at the lower neighbor the figures are 1.91 cubic yards, 2.57 tons — order 2 yards.; at the upper neighbor the figures are 2.09 cubic yards, 2.83 tons — order 3 yards..
• Depth needing exactly 1 cubic yard over 100 square feet: 3.24 inches — at 3.24 inches the figures are 1.00 cubic yards, 1.35 tons — order 1 yard.; at the lower neighbor the figures are 0.85 cubic yards, 1.14 tons — order 1 yard.; at the upper neighbor the figures are 1.15 cubic yards, 1.56 tons — order 2 yards..
• Depth needing exactly 2.50 tons over 100 square feet: 6 inches — at 6 inches the figures are 1.85 cubic yards, 2.50 tons — order 2 yards.; at the lower neighbor the figures are 1.70 cubic yards, 2.29 tons — order 2 yards.; at the upper neighbor the figures are 2.01 cubic yards, 2.71 tons — order 3 yards..

What the defaults assume

The defaults are 100 square feet at 3 inches, so the headline is a small bed top-dressed at a common depth. The model is one division with a round-up: area times depth divided by 324, then tons at 1.35 per loose yard, then the order rounded up to a whole yard — with a tiny epsilon subtracted before the ceiling so a value landing exactly on a whole yard, like 108 square feet at 3 inches, orders that yard and not one more. The area reverse is checked at 10 square feet either side; the depth reverses are checked at 0.5 inches either side. The model does not include settling, compaction, waste or delivery minimums — loose topsoil settles by roughly a fifth, so a finished depth wants about a quarter more loose depth, and most suppliers have a minimum order.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• A gardener topping up a bed — 100 square feet at 3 inches is 0.93 yards, 1.25 tons, order 1 yard.
• A landscaper quoting a lawn bed — the lookup table gives yards and tons for four areas and four depths.
• Someone choosing a depth — the 6-inch branch needs 1.85 yards and the 1-inch branch needs 0.31 for the same bed.
• A buyer checking a supplier quote — the reverses give the area or depth behind any quoted yardage or tonnage.

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, with order yards rounded up to whole yards. The main limitation is the bed itself, not the arithmetic: irregular shapes, settling, compaction and waste all move the real order, and the 1.35 tons-per-yard figure is for loose topsoil — wet or compacted soil weighs more per yard. This page is a calculation tool, not a landscaping quote.

Cite this calculator

100 sq ft at 3 inches needs 0.93 cubic yards of topsoil, 1.25 tons — order 1 yard. Source: Bright Side Kit, https://brightoolbox.com/topsoil-coverage-chart/, accessed 28 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions