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Construction & Home

Concrete Calculator

How much concrete does your slab need? Enter length, width, and thickness to get cubic feet and cubic yards, plus an optional waste allowance. The bag table below converts yards into 40, 60, or 80 lb bags.

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Quick answer

Volume is based on slab length x width x thickness.

What this tells you

  • Volume is based on slab length x width x thickness.
  • Thickness is converted from inches to feet for volume calculations.
  • Waste percentage increases recommended order quantity.

How to Use

  1. 1Enter slab length in feet.
  2. 2Enter slab width in feet.
  3. 3Enter slab thickness in inches.
  4. 4Add optional waste percentage.
  5. 5Calculate to get cubic feet and cubic yards required.

How It Works

Formula

Cubic Feet = Length(ft) x Width(ft) x Thickness(ft) Cubic Yards = Cubic Feet / 27 Total with Waste = Cubic Yards x (1 + Waste%)

Concrete is typically ordered in cubic yards, so the calculator converts slab volume from cubic feet to cubic yards.

Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.

Worked Examples

Patio slab estimate

Length20 ft
Width10 ft
Thickness4 in
Waste10%
Result2.72 cubic yards recommended

Concrete Bags Per Cubic Yard

How many bags of ready-mix concrete equal one cubic yard (27 cubic feet), based on standard bag yields.

Bag sizeYield per bagBags per cubic yard
40 lb0.30 cu ft90 bags
50 lb0.375 cu ft72 bags
60 lb0.45 cu ft60 bags
80 lb0.60 cu ft45 bags

Yields are typical for standard ready-mix. Check the bag label, as high-strength and fast-setting mixes can differ slightly.

Common mistakes

  • Entering thickness in feet instead of inches
  • Ignoring waste allowance for overage and spillage
  • Forgetting to convert cubic feet to cubic yards when ordering

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Frequently Asked Questions

It takes 45 bags of 80 lb concrete mix to make 1 cubic yard. Each 80 lb bag yields about 0.60 cubic feet, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet (27 / 0.6 = 45). For 60 lb bags the answer is 60 bags, and for 40 lb bags it is 90 bags.
A 10 x 10 ft slab at 4 inches thick needs 33.3 cubic feet (1.23 cubic yards) of concrete. That is 56 bags of 80 lb mix or 74 bags of 60 lb mix before waste allowance. At that quantity, ready-mix delivery by truck is usually cheaper and far less work than mixing bags.
Bags make sense for small jobs under about 1 cubic yard (45 or fewer 80 lb bags). Above that, ordering ready-mix delivery by the cubic yard is usually cheaper per yard and avoids mixing dozens of bags by hand.
There are 27 cubic feet in 1 cubic yard. To convert, divide your slab's cubic feet by 27.
Yes. A 5-10% waste allowance is commonly used to cover spillage, uneven subgrade, and form overflow.
This version is optimized for rectangular slabs. For footings, treat each run as a long narrow slab. For columns, use a separate volume calculation.
It estimates concrete calculator outputs using the visible inputs and formula assumptions on this page.

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