Cut and Fill Calculator
Grid-method earthwork takeoff in the browser. Enter your grid spacing and the cut or fill depth at each point — get cut, fill, net volume and a takeoff sheet you can print.
How the grid method works
Every grid cell is a box with four corners. Its volume is the area of the cell multiplied by the average depth of its four corners — so a 25 ft grid cell whose corners need 2, 3, 1 and 2 feet of cut holds 625 ft² × 2 ft = 1,250 ft³, or about 46 cubic yards. Sum every cell and you have the takeoff.
The one place a plain average lies is a cell that straddles the daylight line, where some corners are cut and some are fill. Averaging those to a single number hides both. This calculator totals positive and negative corners separately inside each cell, so a transition cell reports cut and fill instead of cancelling to nothing.
Cut and fill are not the same cubic yard
This is the mistake that turns a balanced site into forty truck loads of imported fill. Cut is bank volume — soil measured where it lies. Fill is compacted volume — soil measured after it is placed and rolled. The same dirt occupies less space compacted than it did in the ground, typically 10-30% less depending on material.
So "cut equals fill" on this sheet does not mean you are balanced. Take the net through the swell and shrink calculator to convert states, then the truck load calculator to find out what actually leaves site.
Reading the result
A positive net means export: more material comes out than goes back, and you are paying to haul and dump the difference. A negative net means import: you are buying and trucking material in, which is usually the more expensive direction. Near zero means the site balances on paper — worth chasing, because moving dirt twice is cheaper than buying it once.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate cut and fill volume by the grid method?
Divide the site into a square grid, and at every grid point record how far the ground has to move: positive if you are cutting, negative if you are filling. Each grid cell has four corners, so its volume is the cell area times the average of its four corner depths. Add the cells up and you have total cut and total fill. This calculator does exactly that — you only enter the depths.
What grid spacing should I use?
Twenty-five feet is the common default for building pads and small sites; 50 to 100 feet is normal for roads and large parcels. Tighter grids are more accurate on rolling ground and slower to enter. If the surface changes sharply between two points, tighten the grid rather than trusting an average across the gap.
Why do cut and fill not balance even when the numbers look equal?
Because they are measured in different states. Cut is bank volume — soil as it sits in the ground. Fill is compacted volume — soil after it is placed and rolled. Most soils lose 10-30% of their bank volume when compacted, so you generally need more bank cut than the fill number suggests. Run the net through the swell and shrink calculator before you decide you are balanced.
Does this handle cells that are part cut and part fill?
Yes, without cancelling them out. Within each cell, positive corner depths are totalled into cut and negative ones into fill separately, so a cell straddling the daylight line reports both instead of averaging to near zero. It is still an approximation — the true zero line inside that cell is a curve, not a straight edge — so tighten the grid across transition areas if the number matters.
Is this accurate enough to bid from?
The grid method is what earthwork estimators used before 3D surface modelling and it is still standard for checking a model. Its accuracy comes down to grid density and how well your depths were taken. Treat it as a solid takeoff and a sanity check on software output — not as a substitute for a surveyed surface on a job where a few percent decides the margin.