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Measure the lawn or bed once and get everything for it: sod pallets and rolls, mulch in bags or bulk cubic yards, topsoil in yards and tons, and the cost of each.
With these inputs:
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Materials for the whole job | $1,138 |
| Sod to order (with waste) | 1,575 sq ft |
| Sod pallets (500 sq ft) | 4 |
| Or sod rolls (2 × 5 ft) | 158 |
| Sod cost | $709 |
| Mulch, bulk | 2.78 cu yd |
| Or mulch bags (2 cu ft) | 38 |
| Mulch cost (bulk) | $106 |
| Topsoil, bulk | 9.26 cu yd ≈ 10.2 tons |
| Or topsoil bags (40 lb) | 334 |
| Topsoil cost (bulk) | $324 |
Bulk mulch and topsoil usually beat bags once you need more than about 2 cubic yards — compare the delivery fee against the bag count.
Each material is sold in a different unit, so the calculator converts once from area and depth. Sod is bought by area: the lawn's square footage plus a waste allowance, rounded up to whole pallets (most farms ship 450 or 500 sq ft) or to 2 × 5 ft rolls of 10 sq ft. Mulch and topsoil are bought by volume: area × depth in feet gives cubic feet, ÷ 27 gives cubic yards for a bulk delivery, and ÷ the bag size gives the bag count. Topsoil is also quoted by the ton; screened, moist topsoil weighs about 1.1 tons per cubic yard, so a yard truck that carries 10 tons holds about 9 yards. Costs multiply each quantity by the price you enter, so you can swap in your garden centre's numbers.
Sod = lawn sq ft × (1 + waste) → ÷ pallet sq ft, ÷ 10 per roll · Mulch cu yd = bed sq ft × depth in ÷ 12 ÷ 27 · Topsoil cu yd = area × depth in ÷ 12 ÷ 27; tons ≈ cu yd × 1.1
Divide the lawn's square footage plus 5% by the pallet size. A 1,500 sq ft lawn needs 1,575 sq ft of sod, which is 4 pallets of 500 sq ft (3.15 rounded up) or 4 pallets of 450 sq ft (3.5 rounded up). Order it to arrive the day you lay it: sod left stacked on the pallet heats up and yellows within a day or two in summer.
Two to four inches of screened topsoil over loosened ground gives new sod a root zone. At 2 inches, every 1,000 sq ft takes about 6.2 cubic yards (roughly 6.8 tons); at 4 inches it doubles to about 12.3 yards. Rake it level and water it to settle before laying, so low spots show up before the sod goes down.
27 cubic feet make a cubic yard, so it takes 13.5 two-cubic-foot bags or 9 three-cubic-foot bags to equal one yard. Bags are convenient for a bed or two; once a job needs more than 2 to 3 yards, bulk delivery is usually cheaper even after the delivery fee.
Two to three inches for most beds and three to four inches where you are trying to smother weeds on bare ground. Keep mulch a few inches away from tree trunks and shrub stems — a volcano of mulch against the bark holds moisture against it and invites rot and rodents.
Spread and grade the topsoil first, roll or water it so it settles, then lay sod on the firm, damp surface — ideally within a day or two. Sod laid on loose fluffy soil settles unevenly, and sod laid on dry soil struggles to knit its roots in.
Wait until the roots have knitted into the soil — usually two to three weeks in the growing season. Tug a corner: if it resists, it is rooted. Set the mower high for the first cuts and take off no more than a third of the blade at a time.
Need the whole roof at once? The free roofing calculator works out roof area, squares, shingle bundles, underlayment, drip edge, ridge cap and installed cost from one set of measurements.