How to Calculate the Cubed Yards of Dirt for a Backyard

When designing your backyard, you may want to replace an existing patio or gravel portion with dirt so that you can later lay grass seed or put down sod. Alternatively, if you have dirt, you might want to put down a layer of topsoil to make sure that your plants have the nutrients needed to grow well. To figure the cubic yards of dirt, you need, you need to know the dimensions of your yard.

Measuring tape

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the dimensions of the area you want to cover with dirt. If you have a rectangular area, measure the length and the width. If you want to cover a circular region, measure the distance from one side to the other, the diameter.
- 2
  Divide the measurement in feet by 3 to convert to yards, if needed. For example, if the diameter equals 24 feet, divide 24 by 3 to get 8 yards.
- 3
  Multiply the length times the width to find the surface area you need to cover with dirt. If you have a circular area, divide the diameter by 2, square the result and multiply by 3.14. For example, if the circle's diameter equals 8 yards, divide 8 by 2 to get 4, square 4 to get 16 and multiply 16 by 3.14 to get a surface area of 50.24 square yards.
- 4
  Multiply the surface area you need to cover with dirt by the depth, in yards, that you want the dirt. Finishing the example, if you want a dirt layer 0.5 yards deep, multiply 50.24 by 0.5 to get 25.12 cubic yards of dirt.

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