How many cubic yards of dirt or fill for a 10×10 area, 4 inches deep?

This is the classic textbook example because it shows the step people skip: the 4 inches has to become a third of a foot before you multiply. Forget that and you get 400 "cubic feet", which is twelve times too much. Remember that a cubic yard is a 3 ft cube, 27 cubic feet, and the rest is division.

What to know about filling a 10×10 area 4 inches deep

Round up when you order. Landscape yards commonly sell in half-yard steps, so 1.23 yards means ordering a yard and a half. That extra quarter-yard is useful: the figure above is exact geometry, and loose dirt shrinks when you tamp or roll it. If the fill will be compacted under a shed, path or patio, set the extra to 10% or more in the calculator.

Weight decides how you move it. At roughly 1.48 tons of average topsoil (about 2,960 lb), this is two trips in a typical half-ton pickup, even though the dirt would only fill part of the bed. Wet clay fill runs heavier still. Many suppliers deliver a load this size; compare the fee with the time and fuel for two trips.

Using gravel instead of dirt? Gravel is heavier per yard and sold by the ton, so work it out on How much gravel for a 10×10 area, which gives the tons for this same area and depth.

Growing something in it? Fill dirt is for raising grade; plants want topsoil, often with compost mixed in. How much topsoil for a 10×10 garden bed covers the same footprint 6 inches deep. Buying bags rather than bulk, 33.3 cubic feet is about 45 bags of 0.75 cu ft or 17 of 2 cu ft; How many bags of mulch are in a cubic yard shows the conversion for every bag size.