Cubic yards of fill dirt to raise a grade, level a yard or backfill — with settling allowed for.
Fill Dirt Calculator
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Depth is in inches. Entering feet here is the most common ordering mistake.
Fill dirt settles hard — 20–30% between loose delivery and compacted grade.
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Fill dirt to order
13.89 yd³
V = L × W × (depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27, +25% settling; 1.25 tons/yd³
Calculated with BuildCalculators.com
Calculated with BuildCalculators.com · buildcalculators.com/fill-dirt-calculator
Estimates are for planning only — confirm quantities with your supplier or contractor before ordering.
Fill dirt is the material you buy when the problem is elevation rather than growing: subsoil, unscreened, bought to raise a grade, level a yard, backfill against a foundation or close a low spot that holds water. The arithmetic is area × depth ÷ 27, and the number that matters most is the settling allowance on top — 20–30%, higher than any other material on this site, because unscreened fill has large irregular voids that keep closing for months after delivery.
V = L × W × (depth ÷ 12) ÷ 27order = yd³ × (1 + settling ÷ 100)tons = order yd³ × 1.25 tons/yd³1 yd³ covers 54 ft² at 6 inFill is subsoil — clay, sand and rock below the growing layer, with the organic content absent. That is a feature: organic matter decomposes and keeps settling, which is exactly what you do not want under a patio or against a foundation. Fill holds a grade. Topsoil grows things. A raised lawn is fill dirt with 4–6 inches of topsoil capped over it, and ordering one when you needed the other is the most expensive mistake on this page.
Screened materials arrive with consistent particle sizes and modest voids. Unscreened fill arrives as clods, mixed sizes and air. Dumped and raked, it can lose a quarter of its height over a season of rain. Machine-compacted in 6–8 inch lifts it settles once, properly, on your schedule instead of afterwards — which is why every structural fill spec is written in lifts.
“Clean fill” means soil and rock with no organic debris, no rubble, no contamination. Free or near-free loads from excavation contractors are often clean and perfectly good — the contractor is paying to dispose of it either way. But they can also carry roots, broken concrete, or heavy clay that holds water. Look at the pile before it is on your driveway, and ask where it came from.
Against a foundation wall, fill goes back in lifts with drainage stone at the footing and the grade sloped away from the building. Never backfill against a fresh basement wall before the floor and first-floor framing brace it — walls have been pushed in by a machine placing fill too early. And keep the final grade at least 6 inches below any siding or sill plate.
Bringing a dished lawn area up to an even grade.
Order about 14 cubic yards
Then cap with 4 inches of topsoil across the same 600 ft² — about 7.4 yd³ more, worked out on the [[topsoil-calculator|topsoil calculator]]. Fill alone will not grow grass.
A hollow beside the house that holds water after rain.
About 10.4 cubic yards
A foot of fill needs two lifts with compaction between them. Slope the finished surface away from the building at roughly a quarter inch per foot, or the water simply pools somewhere new.
Closing the trench against a foundation wall.
About 16.7 cubic yards
Drainage stone goes in first at the footing, then fill in lifts. This is where the “brace the wall before backfilling” rule earns its keep.
Compacted in place. Order the loose figure above these.
| Depth | Coverage |
|---|---|
| 3 in | 108 ft² |
| 6 in | 54 ft² |
| 12 in | 27 ft² |
| 24 in | 13.5 ft² |
| Material | Per yd³, 2026 | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Fill dirt, unscreened | $8–$20 | Raising grade, backfill, low spots |
| Screened fill | $15–$30 | Under patios and slabs, tidier work |
| Topsoil, screened | $25–$50 | The top 4–6 in where things grow |
| Structural fill / select fill | $20–$40 | Engineered load-bearing fill, to spec |
Fill dirt runs $8–$20 per cubic yard delivered in 2026 — the cheapest bulk material most yards handle, and frequently free if you can take a full load and accept it unscreened. Delivery is the real cost on small orders.
Excavation contractors pay tipping fees to dump spoil, so a homeowner wanting 15 yards is doing them a favour. Search local listings, or ask at any site with an open excavation. You are trading money for control: free fill arrives as whatever came out of that hole. For grade under a lawn, that is usually fine.
A skid-steer with an operator runs $250–$400 a day and turns a two-weekend wheelbarrow job into an afternoon. A plate compactor ($60–$100/day) handles lifts on small areas; larger fills want a jumping jack or a roller. Compaction is not optional on anything a structure or paving will sit on.
Almost every fill job needs a topsoil cap, and topsoil costs two to three times as much per yard. Budget both together: 6 inches of fill plus 4 inches of topsoil over 600 ft² is roughly $208 of fill and $330 of topsoil at typical prices.
Grass on subsoil is thin, yellow and permanently disappointing. Fill raises the level; the top 4–6 inches must be topsoil for anything to grow. Two orders, two materials.
Fill placed in one deep pile compacts only at the top. Six to eight inch lifts with compaction between them is what makes a grade hold — otherwise it keeps sinking for a year and takes your new patio with it.
The point of most fill is drainage, and it is easy to end up with a beautifully level surface that sends water at the foundation. Slope away from the building — about a quarter inch per foot for at least the first 6 feet.
Raising grade against a wall is how water gets behind cladding and how termites get an unguarded route in. Keep the finished grade at least 6 inches below siding and sill plates, even if it means a retaining edge.
Fill dirt is subsoil — the layer below the growing zone, with organic matter screened out or simply absent. It is structural: it holds a grade without decomposing or settling further. Topsoil is the living layer plants root in. Fill raises the level; topsoil goes on top of it, 4–6 inches deep.
About 2,500 lb — 1.25 US tons — dry. Wet clay fill can pass 3,000 lb per yard, which is why loads are limited by weight rather than volume and why a pickup carries only about one yard safely.
20–30% for unscreened fill placed loose, and that is not optional — fill settles more than any other material because the voids are larger and irregular. Machine-compacting in 6–8 inch lifts is what gets a grade to hold; dumped and raked fill keeps sinking for a year or more.
Often, yes. Excavation contractors pay to dispose of it, so many will deliver clean fill free or for the haul cost alone — check local listings and ask nearby construction sites. The tradeoff is that free fill is unscreened and may carry rubble, roots or clay you did not want.
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It is a planning estimate. It does not replace an engineer, a site visit or a written quote — confirm quantities with your supplier before ordering.