Topsoil, peat mix, or fill: pick the right one
Anchorage soil is not much to start with, which is why the pits do good business in the stuff. What they sell falls into three buckets, and people order the wrong bucket more often than you would think.
| Product | What is in it | Use it for | Supplier price, per yard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screened topsoil with peat | Screened native soil blended with peat, dark and loose | Lawns, beds, anything you will seed or plant | $25 at the pit |
| Unscreened topsoil | Native topsoil with roots, sticks and the odd rock | Rough grading before a screened lift, filling low spots | Less, and you get what you get |
| Clean fill | Sand, gravelly soil, no organics | Raising a lot, backfilling a foundation, building a pad | $5 to $6.50 for pit run and hardpan fill |
Prices above are published Anchorage pit prices, per yard. Topsoil yards in the Bowl commonly set a five-yard minimum before they will send a truck at all. Trucking is separate and is what we quote.
How much topsoil a lawn takes
A new lawn wants four to six inches of screened topsoil over graded fill. A 5,000 square foot yard at five inches is about 77 loose yards, which is seven full loads in our 12-yard trucks, not two. That surprises people. Measure the area, decide the depth, and run it through the load calculator; topsoil is light, about a ton per yard, so the limit is volume, not weight, and topsoil is the one material that fills our 12-yard beds to the top.
Fill for lots and foundations
Bringing in fill in Anchorage is a permit question before it is a trucking question. The Municipality regulates fill and grading under Title 23.105; how much you can place without a permit, and what changes near a wetland or a drainage, is on our permit page. We will not dump a hundred yards on a lot with a wet corner and a neighbour downhill without asking whether you have talked to Development Services, because we are the ones they photograph.
For structural fill, the material has to compact. Sand and gravelly pit run do; peaty native soil does not. If a contractor spec says "NFS" (non-frost-susceptible) material, that is a graded gravel with few fines, and we source it from the pit that stocks it rather than guessing.
Timing: the season is short
Topsoil moves from mid-May to freeze-up. Before that the pits are frozen or the roads are restricted; after the first hard frost the soil arrives in chunks and does not rake. If you want a lawn seeded and growing before winter, the soil needs to be down by early August. Book the truck before you book the seed.
Placing it
- A tailgate spread along a bed line is easy; a whole yard wants a skid steer or a lot of wheelbarrow time.
- Keep the pile off the lawn you are keeping; a load of wet topsoil kills grass under it in a week.
- Grade fill away from the house, a quarter inch per foot, before the topsoil goes on.
- Rake, roll lightly, seed, and water. Do not compact topsoil; that is the one material you want loose.
Questions we get about this
Is your topsoil screened?
We deliver what you order. Screened with peat for planting, unscreened for rough grading. We will tell you which pit it came from and it is on the ticket.
Can I get a mix of fill and topsoil in one truck?
Not in one box; they mix in the truck and you lose both. Two loads, fill first, is the right way, and for a lot job that is usually the cheaper way too.
How much does a load of topsoil weigh?
About a ton per loose yard when it is moist, so a 15-yard load is roughly 15 tons. Lighter than gravel, which is why we can send the bigger truck.
Do you deliver to Wasilla and Palmer?
Yes, with Valley-sourced material where it makes sense. The Mat-Su page covers the pits and minimums out there.