The area of a residential property and things included on that property is often given in square feet. On the other hand, things you might need for that property, such as soil, are typically sold in cubic meters.

Say you want to cover a vegetable garden of a certain size to a certain depth, using a kind of topsoil available at your home and garden store. How much soil should you buy?

This example uses a 40-foot-by-60-foot garden and a desired soil coverage depth of 1.5 inches.

Step 1: Find the Area in Square Feet

Multiply the length of the plot by the width. In the current example, this is 40 ft × 60 ft = 2,400 ft².

Step 2: Convert the Area in Square Feet to Area in Square Meters

Because 1 ft = 0.3048 m, (1 ft)² = (0.3048 m)² = 0.0929 m².

Therefore, 2,400 ft² = (0.0929)(2,400) m² - 222.97 m².

Step 3: Covert the Depth (Height) in Inches to the Depth (Height) in Meters

1 m = 39.37 in.

Therefore, 1.5 in = (1.5 ÷ 39.37) = 0.0381 m

Step 4. Calculate the Volume in Cubic Meters

Combining Step 2 and Step 3:

(222.97)(0.0381) = 8.50 m³.