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Topsoil for Sod Calculator

The soil under the lawn — the cubic yards to order before the sod arrives.

An estimate of volume — a soil test says how much your ground actually needs.

50' · 600 in · 50 ft · 15.24 m

40' · 480 in · 40 ft · 12.192 m

2,000 ft²

Purdue Extension advises ordering about 10% extra, for the pieces cut at corners and edges, which is where this starts; a lawn of curves can want up to 20%. It is added once, to the sod — the soil under it is the size of the ground.

This page recalculates as you type. There is no Calculate button.

Answer

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Soil to work in

12.5 yd³

2,200 ft² with 10% waste · 825 slabs · about 14,507 lb on the truck

Buy 5 × pallet (16 × 24 in slabs)
Pieces, with waste 825 slabs
Whole pallets 5 pallets of 170 slabs
Lawn to cover 2,000 ft²
With the 10% for cuts 2,200 ft²
Weight on the truck 14,507 lb
Ticked items cost $1,672.50
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Area 1: 50' × 40'.50'40'Area 1

Buying noteLay it the day it arrives: Purdue Extension wants sod down within 24 hours of being cut. Book the delivery for that day.
Buying note14,507 lb is about 10 pickup loads at ~1,500 lb a load, and one pallet is more than a load: have it delivered. Your truck's payload goes under Assumptions.

Breakdown

Area Measurements Qty Area Share
Area 1 50' × 40' Add ×1 2,000 ft²

What to buy

Buying noteLay it the day it arrives: Purdue Extension wants sod down within 24 hours of being cut. Book the delivery for that day.
Buying note14,507 lb is about 10 pickup loads at ~1,500 lb a load, and one pallet is more than a load: have it delivered. Your truck's payload goes under Assumptions.

Pallets or loose pieces

A pallet is a count of pieces, set under Assumptions. Each way is priced; pick the one you will buy.

5 × pallet (16 × 24 in slabs) Pieces 850 Left over 25 slabs Weight 14,507 lb Cost $1,150.00 Reference price $230.00. Type your store's.
4 × pallet (16 × 24 in slabs) + 145 × loose 16 × 24 in slab Pieces 825 Left over 0 slabs Weight 14,080 lb Cost $1,352.10
825 × loose 16 × 24 in slab Pieces 825 Left over 0 slabs Weight 14,080 lb Cost $2,458.50 Reference price $2.98. Type your store's.

Shopping list

5 5 × pallet (16 × 24 in slabs) $1,150.00
12.5 yd³ $522.50 Reference price $35.00. Type your store's. Reference price $85.00. Type your store's.
Ticked items $1,672.50

Untick what you already have. The sod is priced in the table above, the soil and the staples beside their own rows. The soil starts unticked: work it in where your soil test asks for it.

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How this was worked out

Every number below is yours. Each constant links to the row where you can change it.

Area 1 50' × 40' 2,000 ft²
With the waste for cuts 2,000 ft² × (1 + 10%) 2,200 ft²
One piece 16 in × 24 in ÷ 144 in²/ft² 2.6667 ft²
Pieces 2,200 ft² ÷ 2.6667 ft² 825 slabs
Pallets 825 slabs ÷ 170 slabs a pallet 4.85 → 5 pallets

Change:Slabs a pallet, 16 × 24 in

Weight of what you buy 2,266.67 ft² × 6.4 lb/ft² 14,507 lb

Change:Weight of sod

Soil under the lawn 2,000 ft² × 2 in ÷ 12 in/ft ÷ 27 ft³/yd³ 12.35 yd³ → 12.5 yd³

Change:Soil worked in under the sod

What it comes to 5 × $230.00 + 12.5 yd³ × $35.00 + $85.00 $1,672.50

Assumptions

Every one of these is editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

Assumption Value Confidence
Slabs a pallet, 16 × 24 inThe Grass Outlet ships slab pallets of 399, 452 or 503 ft²; 452 ft² is 170 slabs of 16 × 24 in (2.667 ft² each). Purdue AY-28-W: a pallet holds about 50 yd², 450 ft². The count is our division; your farm's ticket says its own. ~ slabs/pallet Derived or single-supplier
Weight of sodThe Grass Outlet: a 450 ft² pallet weighs 2,800-3,000 lb, a piece 15-20 lb - about 6.2-6.7 lb/ft² for Southern slabs. Purdue AY-28-W gives 35-40 lb a square yard (3.9-4.4 lb/ft²) for thin-cut sod. The heavier figure, because it sizes the haul; wet sod weighs more. ~ lb/ft² Derived or single-supplier
Soil worked in under the sodPenn State Extension, Lawn Establishment: a 1 to 2 in layer of compost or peat worked 4 to 6 in into the soil before sodding. The top of that range; your soil test may ask for less. Purdue AY-28-W: compost at 1-3 yd³ per 1,000 ft², mixed 6-8 in deep. ≈ in Trade convention
Your truck's payloadFull-size (1500-series) pickups advertise 2,260-2,440 lb of payload (2026), and ordinary trims carry 600-700 lb less; this is the low end. Your truck's figure is on the driver's door-jamb placard. ~ lb Derived or single-supplier

How much topsoil to put under sod

Area times depth. Penn State Extension's guide to establishing a lawn works a 1 to 2 inch layer of compost or peat into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil before the sod goes down, and this page starts at the 2 inch end. A lawn 50 by 40 feet is 2,000 square feet; at 2 inches that is 333.33 cubic feet, 12.35 cubic yards, ordered as 12.5.

No waste is added to the soil. The waste on this page is the sod cut off at the edges and thrown away; the ground under the lawn is the same size however the sod is cut. The same lawn takes 825 slabs of sod, five pallets, and they are on the list beside the soil.

How deep

Two different jobs share the word topsoil. Working compost into the soil you have is 1 to 2 inches (Penn State) — Purdue Extension writes it as 1 to 3 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet, mixed 6 to 8 inches deep. Rebuilding soil that a builder scraped away is far more: Penn State says good turf needs at least 4 to 6 inches of topsoil, and Purdue puts it at about 19 cubic yards for 6 inches over 1,000 square feet.

Depth Per 1,000 ft² This lawn, 2,000 ft²
1 in3.09 yd³6.17 yd³
2 in6.17 yd³12.35 yd³
4 in12.35 yd³24.69 yd³
6 in18.52 yd³37.04 yd³

A soil test is what says which job yours is. The depth is a box under Assumptions: type the depth your test or your landscaper gives, and 0 leaves the soil out.

Buying it

By the cubic yard, delivered, in quarter yards: 12.35 is ordered as 12.5. The reference price is $35.00 a yard and $85.00 for the delivery, our estimates for bulk topsoil — type your yard's. A small lawn may be cheaper in bags; the next link carries this lawn to the topsoil calculator, which compares the two.

Spread it before the sod is delivered, not the same morning: the soil should be raked smooth, firm enough to walk on, and dry to slightly moist when the sod goes down — Penn State says never to lay sod on wet soil. We are not connected with any supplier named here.