Cubic Feet to Cubic Yards
Twenty-seven cubic feet make one cubic yard. Convert a volume before ordering concrete, mulch, gravel or topsoil — all of which are sold by the yard.
Formula: cubic yards = cubic feet × 0.03703704
Divide by 27. A 100 cu ft volume is 3.7 cubic yards. The factor is three cubed, because a cubic yard is three feet in all three directions.
This is the one conversion on this site that is not an area at all. It is here because it is the step immediately after a square footage calculation, every single time you are buying something by the truckload.
The slab calculation people get wrong
Concrete, mulch, gravel and topsoil are all ordered by the cubic yard. The sequence is: area in square feet, times depth in feet, divided by 27.
The depth is where it goes wrong, because slabs and mulch beds are specified in inches. A 4-inch slab is 0.333 feet, not 4. A 400 sq ft patio at 4 inches is 400 × 0.333 = 133 cu ft, which is 4.9 cubic yards — order five. Leave the depth as 4 and you get 59 yards and a phone call from the batching plant.
Order a little over, always
Concrete cannot be topped up once it starts going off, and a short load means a cold joint through your slab. Most contractors add five to ten percent for spillage, uneven subgrade and the ground soaking up the first of it. Mulch and gravel are more forgiving, but the same margin saves a second delivery charge that usually costs more than the extra material.
Cubic feet to cubic yards table
| Cubic feet | Cubic yards |
|---|---|
| 1 cu ft | 0.037 cu yd |
| 9 cu ft | 0.333 cu yd |
| 27 cu ft | 1 cu yd |
| 54 cu ft | 2 cu yd |
| 100 cu ft | 3.704 cu yd |
| 135 cu ft | 5 cu yd |
| 200 cu ft | 7.407 cu yd |
| 270 cu ft | 10 cu yd |
| 500 cu ft | 18.519 cu yd |
| 1,000 cu ft | 37.037 cu yd |
Other conversions
- Linear feet to square feet
- Square feet to gaj
- Gaj to square feet
- Square feet to guntha
- Guntha to square feet
- Square feet to bigha
Need the area first? The square footage calculator works it out from your measurements, and the shape calculators handle the rooms and lots that are not a plain rectangle.