Cubic Yard Calculator
Find the volume of a bed, pit or area in cubic yards — the unit landscape supplies are usually sold in — plus cubic feet, cubic metres and how many bags it would take.
Cubic yards = length × width × depth (all in feet) ÷ 27. One cubic yard is a 3 × 3 × 3 ft cube — about 0.76 m³ — and covers roughly 81 sq ft at 4 inches deep.
1.48
Cubic yards
40
Cubic feet
1.133
Cubic metres
1,133
Litres
Bagged mulch and soil are often 1.5 or 2 cu ft.
20
Bags needed
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How to use cubic yard calculator
- 1Choose the units for length and width, and separately for depth (inches is common).
- 2Enter the length, width and depth.
- 3If you have several identical areas, enter how many.
- 4Read the volume and, optionally, the number of bags for a given bag size.
About this tool
Cubic yards = length × width × depth, with everything converted to feet, divided by 27 (because a cubic yard is 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 cubic feet). The calculator handles the conversions, so you can mix feet for the area and inches for the depth.
Example: a 12 × 10 ft garden bed filled 4 inches deep holds 40 cubic feet, or about 1.48 cubic yards — around 20 bags of 2 cu ft mulch. A 3 × 3 × 3 ft hole is exactly 1 cubic yard (about 0.76 m³).
Use it for mulch, topsoil, compost, sand, fill dirt or any loose material sold by volume. For concrete, the Concrete Calculator adds slab and column shapes and bag counts; for gravel and stone, the Gravel Calculator adds weight. Loose materials settle, so you may want to order a little extra.
Frequently asked questions
Multiply length × width × depth in feet, then divide by 27. For example, 10 ft × 10 ft × 0.5 ft = 50 cu ft ÷ 27 = 1.85 cubic yards.
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