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How Much Concrete for a 6x28 Slab?

A 6 by 28 foot slab is 168 square feet. How much concrete for a 6x28 slab at the common 4-inch thickness: about 2.07 cubic yards. Most people order 2.50 yards to cover waste and an uneven base.

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The math for a 6x28 slab

  1. Area: 6 ft × 28 ft = 168 sq ft.
  2. Thickness in feet: 4 in ÷ 12 = 0.333 ft.
  3. Volume: 168 × 0.333 = 56.0 cubic feet.
  4. Cubic yards: 56.0 ÷ 27 = 2.07 yd³.
  5. With 10% extra: 2.28 yd³.

The concrete calculator runs the same steps for any size and thickness.

Concrete for a 6x28 slab by thickness

ThicknessCubic feetCubic yardsYards +10%80 lb bags60 lb bags
4 in56.02.072.2894125
5 in70.02.592.85117156
6 in84.03.113.42140187

Bag counts assume about 0.60 cubic feet per 80 lb bag and 0.45 per 60 lb bag, rounded up.

Thickness for this job

Four inches is the usual thickness for patios, walks and shed floors. Slabs that carry cars or a heavy hot tub are often poured at 5 to 6 inches, and edges are sometimes thickened where loads concentrate.

Ordering ready-mix

Concrete is ordered by the cubic yard, and a yard is 27 cubic feet. Ready-mix plants usually sell in quarter- or half-yard steps, so round up to the next step rather than down. Running short in the middle of a pour leaves a cold joint, which is a weak seam in the slab.

Base and forms

Uneven ground is the main reason pours run short. Every half inch of extra depth across the slab adds concrete you did not plan for. Screed the base flat, check it with a string line and set the forms to finished height before the truck arrives.

Joints, mesh and rebar

Cut or tool control joints so the slab cracks where you want it to. A common rule is spacing them, in feet, at no more than two to three times the slab thickness in inches, so about 8 feet apart for a 4-inch slab, and about a quarter of the slab depth deep.

Questions people ask

How many yards of concrete for a 6x28 slab at 4 inches?

About 2.07 cubic yards, or 2.28 with 10 percent extra.

How many yards for a 6x28 slab at 6 inches?

About 3.11 cubic yards.

How many 80 lb bags for a 6x28 slab?

About 94 bags at 4 inches thick, before any waste allowance.

How many square feet is a 6x28 slab?

168 square feet.

How much does a cubic yard of concrete weigh?

Roughly 4,000 pounds, or about 2 tons, for normal-weight concrete.

How thick should the base under the slab be?

About 4 inches of compacted gravel is common for residential slabs, more on soft or poorly drained soil.

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