Topsoil Order Sheet
Order for the FINISHED depth, ask which unit they sell by, and ask what the soil actually is.
BFCBrilliance · bfcbrilliance.com/tools/topsoil-calculator
The job
- Location
- Date
- Length
- Width
- AREA
- Finished depth wanted
- Settling %
- Loose depth to spread
- CUBIC YARDS
- Tons
- Supplier
- Screened?
Depth by job, and the arithmetic
- Lawn topdressing
- 0.25-0.5 in — MORE than this kills the grass
- New lawn from seed
- 4-6 in over the subsoil
- Planting beds
- 8-12 in
- Vegetable / deep-rooted
- 12 in or more
- Cubic feet
- length x width x (depth in / 12)
- Cubic yards
- cubic feet / 27
- ⚠ Settling
- 20-25% — order MORE than the finished depth
- Screened topsoil density
- around 1.1 tons/cu yd; wet is heavier
- ⚠ Tons vs cubic yards
- ASK — the numbers are not close
- Bags vs bulk crossover
- about 1 cu yd = ~27 one-cu-ft bags
Sections — measure irregular areas as rectangles
| Section | Length | Width | Depth | Cubic yd | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Before ordering
- Depth chosen for the JOB — it varies by a factor of 48
- Settling allowance included; you are spreading deeper than the finish
- ASKED whether they price by ton or cubic yard
- ASKED what the soil is and whether it is screened
- ASKED where it came from
- Weight checked before assuming you will move it yourself
- Somewhere for the lorry to tip that is not where the soil must end up
- Access and headroom checked for a tipper
- Existing grass or weeds dealt with before covering them
- Bulk priced against bags if you are anywhere near a cubic yard
Order for the finished depth, not the delivered one
Loose soil is full of air. Spread, watered and walked on, it compacts by 20-25% — so a bed filled level today sits low in a month. Enter the depth you want to END with and spread deeper than that; the allowance is doing real work, not padding.
Topsoil is not a graded product
Unlike sand or gravel, quality varies wildly between suppliers — screened or not, sandy or clay-heavy, full of stones or weed seed. A cheap load that turns out to be subsoil and rubble costs twice: once to deliver, once to remove. Ask what it is before you ask what it costs.