Topsoil Calculator

1-2 inches to topdress an existing lawn, since any more will smother the grass you already have. New beds, low spots, and anything you are building up from scratch want 4-6 inches or more, depending on what is going to be rooted in it.

About 1.35 tons, roughly 2,100 lb, for screened topsoil that is dry. Wet or compacted soil runs 2,400-2,700 lb per cubic yard. That spread matters if you are moving it by wheelbarrow or worried about what a delivery truck will do to your driveway.

Somewhere between 36 and 54, which is a wide enough range to be worth checking. A 40 lb bag holds roughly 0.5-0.75 cubic feet, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Bags are sold by weight and used by volume, so read the labeled cubic feet and put that in the bag size field above.

Bulk, once you need more than 1-2 cubic yards. The saving is large and it climbs with volume. Bags make sense for small areas, or when a delivery truck cannot get close enough to dump a pile where you actually need it.