CalculatorMulchHow do you work out cubic yards?
Cubic yards calculator
3.7 cubic yards
= 100 cu ft · about 50 bags (2 cu ft)
- One cubic yard covers
- 54 sq ft at this depth
Depth is in inches; length and width in feet. Mixing the two is the classic error.
What the yard needs this month
MonthlyOne job a month, with the depth and the volume it actually needs. No plant catalogues, no upsell โ just the material side of the garden.
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How do you calculate cubic yards?
Multiply length ร width ร depth with all three in feet, then divide by 27. A cubic yard is a cube three feet on every side, so it holds 3 ร 3 ร 3 = 27 cubic feet โ that single number is the whole conversion.
Worked through: a 20 ร 10 ft area at 6 inches deep. Six inches is 0.5 ft, so 20 ร 10 ร 0.5 = 100 cubic feet, and 100 รท 27 = 3.7 cubic yards. If you already know the area in square feet, skip a step โ square feet ร depth in feet รท 27 gets you there just as well.
Two habits save the reorder. Convert the depth from inches by dividing by 12 before you multiply, because inches multiplied by feet gives a number in nothing at all. And round the finished figure up to the half yard, since that is how bulk material is sold โ 3.7 yards is a 4-yard order.
Every calculator on this site is this one, wearing a different hat. Mulch, topsoil, compost, gravel and sand all use area ร depth รท 27; what changes afterwards is the density, the bag size and the unit the supplier quotes in. Learn the formula once and you can sanity-check any quote you are given.
The table converts depth to volume for a 100 sq ft patch, which is the easiest unit to scale in your head โ multiply by five for 500 sq ft, by ten for 1,000.
| Depth | Depth in feet | Cu ft per 100 sq ft | Cu yd per 100 sq ft | 1 cu yd covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 0.083 | 8.3 | 0.31 | 324 sq ft |
| 2 in | 0.167 | 16.7 | 0.62 | 162 sq ft |
| 3 in | 0.250 | 25.0 | 0.93 | 108 sq ft |
| 4 in | 0.333 | 33.3 | 1.23 | 81 sq ft |
| 6 in | 0.500 | 50.0 | 1.85 | 54 sq ft |
| 12 in | 1.000 | 100.0 | 3.70 | 27 sq ft |
For the weight of whatever fills that volume, and whether your vehicle can legally carry it, use the cubic yards to tons calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How many cubic feet are in a cubic yard?
Twenty-seven. A yard is 3 feet, and a cubic yard is 3 ร 3 ร 3 feet โ so 27 cubic feet fit inside it. Every conversion on this site comes back to that number, including bags per yard (27 รท bag size) and coverage per yard (27 รท depth in feet).
How do I convert square feet to cubic yards?
You cannot without a depth โ square feet measure area and cubic yards measure volume. Once you have a depth, it is square feet ร depth in feet รท 27. So 500 sq ft at 3 inches is 500 ร 0.25 รท 27 = 4.63 cubic yards, and the same area at 6 inches is exactly double.
How do I calculate a circle or a triangle?
A circle is ฯ ร radiusยฒ, so a 12 ft diameter bed is 3.14159 ร 6 ร 6 = 113 sq ft. A triangle is base ร height รท 2, taking the height as the perpendicular distance to the opposite corner rather than the length of a side. Odd shapes are best broken into two or three of these and added โ the calculator’s shape switch handles each one.
How many cubic yards fit in a pickup truck?
Two to three cubic yards fit in a half-ton pickup’s bed by volume, and on almost every material you will hit the 1,800 lb payload long before that: one yard of topsoil at 2,200 lb is already over. Mulch is the exception โ three yards of dry mulch is about 2,100 lb and mostly a space problem.
What is a cubic yard in metric?
0.7646 cubic metres, and a cubic metre is 1.308 cubic yards. If a supplier quotes in tonnes rather than tons, note that a metric tonne is 2,205 lb against 2,000 for a US short ton โ a 10 percent difference that is easy to miss on an imported spec sheet.
Should I round up or down?
Up, to the next half yard for bulk and the next whole bag for bagged. Suppliers sell in half-yard steps, bulk cannot be returned, and every measured area turns out slightly larger than the tape suggested once you follow the real edge. Running out at 95 percent finished costs a whole extra trip.
How we calculate this
Worked example
With Length ft 20, Width ft 10, Diameter ft 12, Base ft 20, Height ft 12, Area sq ft 300, Ring diameter ft 6, Gap around trunk (in) 4, Depth 6, Bag size 2 cu ft โ Shredded hardwood, the default US mulch bag, Settle & waste allowance None โ order the exact volume, this page works out 3.7 cubic yards. = 100 cu ft ยท about 50 bags ( 2 cu ft )
- One cubic yard covers54 sq ft at this depth
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