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Sod Calculator: Sod, Soil, Fertilizer, and Cost
Measure the lawn by hand or draw it on a picture of your lot, and get one list: sod in square feet and pallets, topsoil and fill in cubic yards with truckloads, the two bags of fertilizer a new sod lawn takes, the water for the first two weeks, and a budget built from your own local prices.
Measure the lawn
Break the yard into simple shapes. Add every piece of lawn, then subtract the pool, the patio, and the beds.
Length x width.
Leave this on flat if you measured with a tape or a wheel lying on the ground: it already followed the hill. A map, a survey, or a plan sees a hill as if it were flat. A bank that shows 10 ft on a map at 30 degrees is really 11.5 ft of ground.
Adds 2,000 sq ft
Sod
Pallet, roll, weight, and ordering rules
Ground prep and yardage
Your local prices (optional)
Sod and soil prices change by farm and by yard, so type what you were quoted. The fertilizer is already priced. Leave a box blank to leave it out of the budget.
Water supply
To find your flow, time how long the hose takes to fill a 5-gallon bucket. Thirty seconds is 10 gallons a minute. On a well, this is the number that decides whether the lawn can be watered in one day.
How much sod, soil, and fertilizer a new lawn takes
Sod is ordered by the square foot, soil by the cubic yard, and fertilizer by the bag, and all three come from one number: the size of the lawn. Add 5 percent to the sod for cuts. Figure topsoil at the depth you want after it settles, then order more than the math, because loose soil settles. The fertilizer is fixed: one bag of UNDER SOD™ for every 500 square feet, and one bag of OVER SOD™ for every 2,000.
| Lawn size | Sod to order, with 5% for cuts | UNDER SOD™ bags | OVER SOD™ bags | Topsoil at a settled 4 in, with 15% for settling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 sq ft | 525 sq ft | 1 | 1 | 8 cu yd |
| 1,000 sq ft | 1,050 sq ft | 2 | 1 | 15 cu yd |
| 2,000 sq ft | 2,100 sq ft | 4 | 1 | 29 cu yd |
| 3,000 sq ft | 3,150 sq ft | 6 | 2 | 43 cu yd |
| 5,000 sq ft | 5,250 sq ft | 10 | 3 | 71 cu yd |
| 10,000 sq ft | 10,500 sq ft | 20 | 5 | 142 cu yd |
The fertilizer math
The 4-2-5 with no iron and four species of mycorrhizae, one 25-pound bag per pallet mixed into the top 4 to 6 inches, is UNDER SOD™; the 8-0-6 with 2 percent non-staining iron, one 25-pound bag per four pallets at 30 days, is OVER SOD™.
One bag of UNDER SOD™ per 500 square feet puts 2 pounds of nitrogen, 1 pound of phosphate, and 2.5 pounds of potash on every 1,000 square feet, blended through the top 4 to 6 inches where the new roots grow, not spread on the surface. One bag of OVER SOD™ per 2,000 square feet puts down 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 with no phosphorus, after the sod has rooted.
Test the soil first. The report decides the phosphorus. If it shows low phosphorus, follow the report's starter recommendation. The full specification is on Built to Spec, and the second bag is explained on the OVER SOD™ page.
Measuring the lawn
By hand. Break the yard into rectangles, triangles, and circles, measure each in feet, and add them. Subtract the pool, the patio, and the beds.
On a picture. Open a site plan, a survey, or a screenshot of your lot from a map app's satellite view. Tap the corners of the lawn, then give the drawing one real length, such as a side you measured with a tape. A picture has no size of its own, so one real length is the least any tool can ask for. The picture stays on your device.
On a slope. A tape lying on the ground already follows the hill. A map, a survey, or a plan sees the hill as if it were flat, so a bank that shows 10 feet from above at 30 degrees is really 11.5 feet of ground. Enter the slope for any area measured from above and the calculator adds the difference.
How the budget works
Sod and soil prices change by farm, by yard, and by season, so the calculator does not guess them. Type what you were quoted for sod, by the square foot or by the pallet, and for topsoil, fill, and compost by the cubic yard. The two bags of fertilizer are already priced. Delivery, tax, and labor are not included.
Sod calculator questions
How much fertilizer do I need for new sod?
One 25 pound bag of UNDER SOD™ for every 500 square feet of lawn, which is one bag per pallet, mixed into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil before the sod is laid. Then one 25 pound bag of OVER SOD™ for every 2,000 square feet, which is one bag per four pallets, spread 30 days after install. A 2,000 square foot lawn takes 4 bags of the first and 1 bag of the second.
How do I figure out how much sod to order?
Measure the lawn in square feet, subtract the pool, the patio, and the beds, and add 5 percent for cuts on a simple yard, 10 percent with curves and trees, or 15 percent with many small pieces. Divide by your farm's pallet size for pallets. Most cool-season farms load about 500 square feet on a pallet, and the calculator lets you change that.
How much topsoil do I need under sod?
Multiply the square feet by the depth in inches and divide by 324 for cubic yards. At a settled 4 inches, 1,000 square feet takes 12.3 cubic yards in place. Loose soil settles as it is graded and watered, so the calculator adds an allowance, 15 percent unless you change it, which makes that about 15 cubic yards to order.
Does the calculator include prices?
Yes. It prices the two fertilizer bags, and it adds sod, topsoil, fill, and compost at the prices you type, because those change by farm and by yard. Delivery, tax, and labor are not included.
Can I measure my lawn without a tape measure?
Yes. Open a site plan, a survey, or a screenshot of your lot from a map app's satellite view, tap the corners of the lawn, and give the drawing one real length, such as one side you measured. The calculator turns the outline into square feet. The picture stays on your device.
Do I still need a soil test?
Yes, test first. The report decides the phosphorus. UNDER SOD™ carries 1 pound of phosphate per 1,000 square feet, which suits the medium and high phosphorus results most lawn soils return. If your report shows low phosphorus, follow the report's starter recommendation.
When does each bag go down?
UNDER SOD™ goes into the soil the day the sod is laid: spread it over the prepared topsoil, mix it into the top 4 to 6 inches with a tiller, a harrow, or a power rake, finish the grade, and lay the sod. OVER SOD™ goes on top 30 days later, once the sod resists a tug at the corners.