List every slab, footing, wall and column on your job, and this free calculator adds up the concrete yardage. You get cubic yards, cubic metres, truck loads, bags and how far your yards will go, with your Australian order rounded up in m³.
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| Item | Yards | m³ | Share |
|---|
Lines are shown before waste.
| Truck | Holds | Loads | Last Load |
|---|
A simple split of your m³ order, with full trucks first. Ask which trucks your supplier runs.
Concrete Yardage With Waste
0yd³
To Order
Measured Volume
Weight And Bags
Your Prices
| Bag | Per Yard | Bags | Weight |
|---|
Bag counts include your waste allowance. Yields vary by product, so check the label.
A real job is rarely one slab. It is a slab, some footings, a few piers and a step or two. This concrete yardage calculator lets you list every piece as a takeoff, then gives you the yardage of each line and the total. It also shows the same number in cubic metres, because that is how you will order in Australia.
If you only want a single cubic foot figure, the Concrete Cubic Foot Calculator is simpler. For a straight unit conversion, try the cubic yards to cubic metres converter. If your plans are metric, the Concrete Volume Calculator will suit you best.
Yardage is a United States term for volume. When an American concreter says a job needs 12 yards, they mean 12 cubic yards. A cubic yard is a cube that measures 3 ft on each side, so it holds 27 cubic feet.
Australia does not use this unit any more. Metrication in Australia began with the Metric Conversion Act of 1970, and the building industry finished its change by January 1976. Today, a concreter here will say a job needs 12 metres, which means 12 cubic metres. It is the same kind of shorthand, but it is not the same amount, and a yard is smaller than a metre.
You will still meet yardage on Australian jobs. Here are the usual places.
Whenever a number arrives in yards, the safe move is to convert it to m³ before you order. Don't guess, because treating yards as metres would over-order by about 31%.
A concrete yardage calculator uses simple maths, and it is easy once everything is in feet.
Thickness is usually in inches, so divide it by 12 first. If you would rather skip a step, there is a shortcut for slabs.
The 324 comes from 27 × 12. Take a 20 ft by 20 ft slab, 4 inches thick. That is 20 × 20 × 4 ÷ 324, or 4.94 cubic yards. In metric, the same slab is 3.776 m³.
All the conversions on this page come from one exact figure. The NIST Guide to the SI gives 1 ft as 0.3048 m. So 3 ft is 0.9144 m, and a cubic yard is 0.9144 × 0.9144 × 0.9144, which is 0.7646 m³ to four decimal places.
A takeoff is a list of every bit of concrete on a job, and it is the heart of this concrete yardage calculator. Estimators use one so that nothing gets missed. One simple guide sets out the basics: sketch the area, measure it, convert inches to feet, work out the volume, divide by 27, then add about 10% for waste. A takeoff does that for each piece, then adds them up.
The share column is a quick way to catch mistakes. In the example below, the slab is 52% of the job and the footing is 39%. If a footing line came out larger than the slab on a simple job, you would know to check the units. Keep your takeoff with your plans, and the PDF gives you a copy.
For a round column, enter its height in the Length box and its diameter in the Width box, both in feet. Depth is switched off for that line. A column 12 inches across is 1 ft.
Most slabs are not perfect rectangles, but you rarely need fancy maths. Split the shape into pieces that you can measure, and put each piece on its own line.
The Takeoff List has six lines. If your job has more items, group similar ones, or run a second list and add the totals together. Note down your measurements on paper as well, so you can check them against the plans later. The clearer the takeoff is, the easier it is for a supplier or a concreter to spot a mistake.
Depth has a big effect on yardage. On a 20 ft by 20 ft slab, each extra half inch adds about 0.62 yards, which is close to a quarter of a 2 m³ order. So if the base is uneven, take a string line across the forms and measure down in at least five spots. Add the readings, divide by the number of readings, and use that as your depth.
People often ask this the other way around: if I have this much concrete, how much slab do I get? The rule is easy to remember.
| Thickness | Area In Square Feet | Area In Square Metres |
|---|---|---|
| 3 in | 108 ft² | 10.03 m² |
| 3.5 in | 92.6 ft² | 8.60 m² |
| 4 in | 81 ft² | 7.53 m² |
| 5 in | 64.8 ft² | 6.02 m² |
| 6 in | 54 ft² | 5.02 m² |
| 8 in | 40.5 ft² | 3.76 m² |
These figures have no waste. The Coverage From Yards job takes your waste allowance out first, so 5 yards at 4 inches with 10% waste covers about 368 square feet, or 34.2 m². Use it when you have left-over concrete booked, or when you want to know what a truck load will do. For a metric rule of thumb, 1 m³ at 100 mm covers 10 m². The Concrete Floor Calculator works in those units.
This table shows some common slabs, with a 10% waste allowance. The Order column is rounded up to the next 0.1 m³.
| Slab Size | Thickness | Yards | With 10% Waste | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft | 4 in | 1.23 yd³ | 1.36 yd³ | 1.1 m³ |
| 12 × 12 ft | 4 in | 1.78 yd³ | 1.96 yd³ | 1.5 m³ |
| 20 × 10 ft | 4 in | 2.47 yd³ | 2.72 yd³ | 2.1 m³ |
| 20 × 20 ft | 4 in | 4.94 yd³ | 5.43 yd³ | 4.2 m³ |
| 24 × 24 ft | 4 in | 7.11 yd³ | 7.82 yd³ | 6 m³ |
| 30 × 20 ft | 4 in | 7.41 yd³ | 8.15 yd³ | 6.3 m³ |
| 30 × 30 ft | 6 in | 16.67 yd³ | 18.33 yd³ | 14.1 m³ |
| 40 × 30 ft | 6 in | 22.22 yd³ | 24.44 yd³ | 18.7 m³ |
These sizes are examples, and any slab's thickness must come from your plans. American plans can use thicknesses that do not suit Australian soils or rules. For local guidance, see the Concrete Slab Thickness Guide, and for a full materials list use the Concrete Slab Calculator.
Each example uses a 10% waste allowance and rounds the order up to the next 0.1 m³.
This job has four lines.
| Line | Size | Yards | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slab | 30 × 20 ft, 4 in thick | 7.41 yd³ | 52% |
| Footing | 100 ft × 1.5 ft, 12 in deep | 5.56 yd³ | 39% |
| 4 pads | 2 × 2 ft, 12 in deep | 0.59 yd³ | 4% |
| 8 round columns | 1 ft across, 3 ft high | 0.70 yd³ | 5% |
| Total | Before waste | 14.25 yd³ | 100% |
That is 10.9 m³. With waste, it comes to 15.68 yards, or 11.99 m³, so the order is 12 m³. If the footings go in a week before the slab, split it into two orders instead.
At 4 inches thick, this is 4.94 yards, or 3.776 m³. With waste, it is 5.43 yards, so the order is 4.2 m³. Quarter-yard rounding would make it 5.5 yards.
A wall 40 ft long, 8 ft high and 8 inches thick is 7.9 yards, or 6.04 m³. With waste, that is 8.69 yards, so the order is 6.7 m³.
Eight holes, each 12 inches across and 3 ft deep, take 0.7 yards. With waste, it is 0.77 yards, or 65 of the 20 kg bags. Any post would take up some of that space, and the Concrete Post Hole Calculator allows for it.
Enter 10 under Known Volume, with no waste. That is 270 cubic feet and 7.65 m³, so the metric order would be 7.7 m³.
The formula stays the same, but the sizes that matter change.
| Item | Formula | Watch For |
|---|---|---|
| Slab | L × W × T ÷ 27 | Thickness is usually in inches |
| Footing | L × W × D ÷ 27 | Trenches are often wider than planned |
| Wall | L × H × T ÷ 27 | Take out door and window openings |
| Beam | L × W × D ÷ 27 | Do not count where it meets the slab twice |
| Round column | Qty × 0.7854 × D² × H ÷ 27 | D is the diameter, not the radius |
In each case, all sizes are in feet. Footings deserve some care. A trench dug by machine is rarely as neat as a form, and it may come out wider than the bucket. So a footing line often uses more than its drawn size. The Concrete Footing Calculator works in Australian sizes.
Walls are the other trap. If the wall is formed, its volume is fairly exact, but the forms must be strong enough for the pressure of the concrete. Have an engineer design any poured wall, and take openings off your volume before you order. Add a line for any steps, or use the Concrete Steps Calculator.
No job uses exactly its measured yardage. The ground dips, forms bow and a little is left in the barrow or pump. The takeoff guide above suggests adding 10%, which is where the calculator starts. Holcim also says to base estimates on site measurements and to allow for wastage.
Round in this order: measure, add waste, then round up. Rounding up first and adding waste after it just inflates the number.
The results show two rounded figures. The m³ figure rounds to the step you choose, starting at 0.1 m³, and it is the one to use in Australia. The yardage figure rounds up to the next quarter yard, which suits American short-load services. HomeGuide says those services can deliver in quarter-yard steps.
Don't over-order by much, though. Returned concrete can be costly, and Boral NSW Metro lists a waste concrete disposal fee of $400 per m³ or part thereof. The bar in your results shows how much of your order is measured concrete, waste and rounding.
Use Known Volume for any number, or take it from this table.
| Cubic Yards | Cubic Feet | Cubic Metres |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 yd³ | 6.75 ft³ | 0.191 m³ |
| 0.5 yd³ | 13.5 ft³ | 0.382 m³ |
| 1 yd³ | 27 ft³ | 0.765 m³ |
| 1.31 yd³ | 35.31 ft³ | 1 m³ |
| 2 yd³ | 54 ft³ | 1.529 m³ |
| 3.92 yd³ | 105.9 ft³ | 3 m³ |
| 5 yd³ | 135 ft³ | 3.823 m³ |
| 10 yd³ | 270 ft³ | 7.646 m³ |
| 20 yd³ | 540 ft³ | 15.291 m³ |
For a rough check in your head, take three-quarters of the yards to get cubic metres. So 8 yards is about 6 m³, and the exact figure is 6.12 m³. That shortcut comes in a little low, so never use it for the final order. Going the other way, add about a third to metres to get yards.
American guides often talk about a 10-yard truck. HomeGuide says a concrete truck holds about 10 cubic yards. Australian trucks are usually described in cubic metres. iSeekPlant's agitator guide lists these sizes.
| Truck | Cubic Metres | Cubic Yards |
|---|---|---|
| Mini agitator | 2.5 to 4.5 m³ | 3.3 to 5.9 yd³ |
| Standard agitator | 6 to 8 m³ | 7.8 to 10.5 yd³ |
| Semi agitator | 9 to 12 m³ | 11.8 to 15.7 yd³ |
So a typical Australian standard agitator is close to an American truck, but not always the same. The truck table in your results shows how many loads your order takes on each size. It is a simple split, full trucks first. For real planning, with minimum loads, unloading time and fees, use the Concrete Supply Calculator.
A US article may also say that loads under a full truck pay a short-load fee. HomeGuide gives $53 per yard for loads under 10 yards. Those are American prices and American rules. Here, Boral NSW Metro applies its short-load fee under 3 m³, which is about 3.9 yards.
Bags are handy for small jobs, but a yard takes a lot of them.
| Bag | Yield | Bags Per Yard | Bags Per m³ | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 kg Cement Australia | 9.1 L | 84 | 110 | Product label |
| 20 kg Dingo MaxPRO | 9.3 L | 83 | 108 | Bunnings listing |
| 40 kg bag | 18 L | 43 | 56 | Industry dry mix table |
| 60 lb US bag | 0.45 ft³ | 60 | 79 | Quikrete sheet |
| 80 lb US bag | 0.60 ft³ | 45 | 59 | Quikrete sheet |
These counts have no waste, and they round up to whole bags. An American guide's "45 bags per yard" refers to 80 lb bags, so don't apply it to 20 kg bags from an Australian store. At 84 bags, one yard of 20 kg premix is about 1,680 kg of dry bags to lift, and that is a big job by hand. Try the Concrete Bag Calculator for other sizes. For anything over about half a cubic metre, ready-mix is often the easier choice.
At 2,400 kg per m³, a planning figure for normal concrete, a cubic yard weighs about 1,835 kg, or 4,045 lb. That is close to the 4,000 lb figure often quoted in American guides.
| Yardage | Kilograms | Pounds |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 yd³ | 917 kg | 2,023 lb |
| 1 yd³ | 1,835 kg | 4,045 lb |
| 2 yd³ | 3,670 kg | 8,091 lb |
| 5 yd³ | 9,175 kg | 20,227 lb |
| 10 yd³ | 18,349 kg | 40,453 lb |
A single yard is too much for most utes and box trailers, so check the payload and tow limits before you collect any wet concrete. Trailer-mix services should tell you what your vehicle can take. A full 10-yard load is more than 18 tonnes of concrete alone, so access matters too. Ground, driveways and pipes must be able to carry the truck.
When you ring a supplier, give them cubic metres. Australian prices and fees are set in m³, so saying yards invites confusion. Use the Ready-Mix Order figure from the concrete yardage calculator, along with these details.
American plans may quote strength in psi, and slump in inches. Those need converting too. Concrete Grades Explained covers Australian grades, and the Concrete Order Calculator helps you round your order. Holcim suggests ordering at least 7 days before delivery, and confirming the details ahead of the day. If your takeoff spans several pour days, book each pour on its own.
Prices in Australia are per m³, so here is how they look per yard.
| Grade | Per m³ | Per Yard |
|---|---|---|
| 20 MPa | $400 | $306 |
| 25 MPa | $410 | $313 |
| 32 MPa | $430 | $329 |
| 40 MPa | $450 | $344 |
The per m³ figures are from Yellow Pages' guide, updated in April 2026, and other guides list lower prices, so get a quote for your grade and postcode. Be careful with American figures. HomeGuide lists $119 to $147 per cubic yard in US dollars. That is a different currency in a different market, and it isn't a price you can compare with an Australian quote.
Enter your rate per m³ under Prices, and the calculator shows the cost of your order and the rate per yard. Add a bag price to compare. At one listed price of $14.44 for a 20 kg bag, 83 bags come to about $1,190 per yard, so bags cost far more than ready-mix for the same amount. They do avoid delivery fees on very small jobs. For a full budget, use the Concrete Cost Calculator.
American yardage talk often comes with mix terms that sound odd in Australia. The main one is sacks per yard. A US sack of cement traditionally weighs 94 lb, so a 5-sack mix has 5 × 94 lb of cement in each cubic yard. Here is what that means in the kilograms per cubic metre used on Australian mix sheets.
| American Term | Cement Per Yard | Cement Per m³ |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5 sack | 423 lb | 251 kg |
| 5 sack | 470 lb | 279 kg |
| 5.5 sack | 517 lb | 307 kg |
| 6 sack | 564 lb | 335 kg |
| 7 sack | 658 lb | 390 kg |
That conversion is only arithmetic. It does not tell you the strength of the mix, because strength also depends on water, stone and admixtures. In Australia, you normally order by strength grade rather than by cement content, so ask for N25 or N32, not for a 6-sack mix. The Concrete Mixture Proportion Calculator works out site mixes in metric.
If a US plan or a video gives a mix or a strength, treat it as a guide only. Your own engineer and supplier will know what suits your site, your soil and Australian rules.
A takeoff total is not one delivery. Most jobs pour in stages, and each stage is its own order, with its own truck and its own minimum load. Footings are usually poured first and inspected, then the slab comes later. Here is how to use your takeoff.
Take the workshop example above. If the footings, pads and columns are poured together, that stage is 6.85 yards, or 5.2 m³, before waste. The slab is then 7.41 yards, or 5.66 m³. Each one clears a 3 m³ minimum, so neither should attract a short-load fee. If the pads and columns were poured alone, at 1.29 yards or just under 1 m³, they would fall well under it. So the order of the pours can change what you pay, even though the total yardage stays the same.
The Concrete Supply Calculator takes each stage from there, with truck spacing, unloading time and fees.
Fresh concrete can burn skin, so wear gloves, boots and eye protection. Check vehicle and trailer limits before you carry wet concrete. This calculator does not design slabs, footings, walls or columns.
Once your takeoff is done, download the PDF from this concrete yardage calculator and keep it with your plans. It shows your total in yards and in cubic metres, so everyone can read the same numbers.
It is the amount of concrete measured in cubic yards. Americans shorten this to yards, so 5 yards of concrete means 5 cubic yards, not a length. In Australia, the same thing is measured in cubic metres.
Multiply length × width × thickness in feet, then divide by 27. A 20 ft by 20 ft slab at 4 inches is 133.33 cubic feet, which is 4.94 cubic yards.
At 4 inches thick, 81 square feet. At 6 inches, 54 square feet, and at 3 inches, 108 square feet. Divide 324 by the thickness in inches.
About 0.765 m³. Going the other way, 1 m³ is about 1.31 cubic yards.
Multiply cubic yards by 0.7646. For example, 10 yards is about 7.65 m³. Round up when you place your order.
At 4 inches, 4.94 yards before waste, or 5.43 yards with 10%. In Australia, that is a 4.2 m³ order.
HomeGuide says a US truck holds about 10 cubic yards. Australian standard agitators are about 6 to 8 m³, which is about 7.8 to 10.5 yards, according to iSeekPlant's size bands.
About 1,835 kg, or 4,045 lb, using 2,400 kg per m³. Real concrete varies with the mix.
About 84 of the 20 kg Cement Australia bags, or 45 of the 80 lb US bags that yield 0.60 cubic feet. Add a waste allowance.
Concrete is priced per m³ here. At $410 per m³, a yard works out to about $313. Delivery, fees and GST may be extra, so get a quote.
It is a list of every piece of concrete on a job, with the volume of each and a total. The Takeoff List job in this calculator does this for up to six items.
Yes. One common rule is to add 10%, which the calculator uses to start. Use less for a neat slab, and more for rough trenches.
In the US, some short-load services work in quarter-yard steps. In Australia, suppliers work in cubic metres, and a small load may attract a fee, so ask.
It is short for cubic metres, just as yards is short for cubic yards. Check that everyone on the job means volume, not length.
No. If your plans are in millimetres and metres, work in metric from the start. Use yards only when your numbers arrive that way.
No. Your numbers stay in your browser and nothing is uploaded. Use Download Result PDF to keep a copy.
Figures reviewed November 2026. Sources: NIST, Wikipedia, eHow, HomeGuide, iSeekPlant, Cement Australia, Bunnings, Quikrete, Yellow Pages, Boral and Holcim, linked in the sections above. Results are planning estimates, so confirm your final quantity, specification and price with your supplier, engineer and the people responsible for your project. See our Disclaimer and Calculator Methodology.