Free materials calculator Quikrete Concrete Calculator
Enter your slab, footing or post dimensions and pick your Quikrete bag size - 40, 60 or 80 lb - to get the exact number of bags to buy. Works for slabs, footings, columns and fence posts.
How this calculator works
The calculator works out the volume of your pour, adds a wastage allowance, then divides by the yield of one Quikrete bag to give the number of bags:
bags = ceil( volume × wastage ÷ bag yield )
Quikrete prints the yield on every bag - 0.30 cu ft for 40 lb, 0.45 cu ft for 60 lb, 0.60 cu ft for 80 lb - and those exact yields are the bag options above. Pouring more than one element (a slab plus a few footings)? Add a section for each and the bags round once for the whole order. All math runs in exact metric internally, so switching between feet and metres never changes the answer.
Quikrete bag yields
| Bag | Yield (set concrete) | Bags per cubic metre |
|---|
| 40 lb (18 kg) | ~8.5 L | ~118 |
| 60 lb (27 kg) | ~12.7 L | ~78 |
| 80 lb (36 kg) | ~17 L | ~59 |
Worked example
This example follows the unit system you pick in the calculator above.
A 3 m × 3 m slab at 100 mm thick, using 80 lb bags:
- Volume: 3 × 3 × 0.1 = 0.9 m³ (about 900 litres).
- With a 10% allowance for an uneven sub-base: about 0.99 m³ (~990 litres).
- From 80 lb bags at ~17 litres (0.60 cu ft) each: 990 ÷ 17 = 59 bags - well past the point where ready-mix delivery would be easier and cheaper.
Tips
- For fence posts, use the Circle / column shape and enter the hole diameter, not the post size - the hole is what you fill.
- Mixing 60+ bags by hand is a big job; once you are near a cubic yard, price up ready-mix delivery.
- Buy one or two spare bags - running out mid-pour leaves a cold joint in the slab.
- Need a general concrete tool not tied to a brand? Use the Concrete Calculator.