Free calculator

Column & sonotube calculator

Round columns and sonotube piers - π·r²·height.

Most pours order 5-10% extra for spillage and over-excavation.

Estimated volume

0.12cubic yards· 0.089· 3.14 ft³
Bags needed for this pour, by bag size, with the cubic-foot yield each size is counted at.
Bag sizeYield per bagBags needed
40 lb0.3 ft³11
60 lb0.45 ft³7
80 lb0.6 ft³6
25 kg0.413 ft³8
30 kg0.496 ft³7
Planning estimate. Bag counts assume the yields above; check the yield printed on your bag, and allow extra for over-excavation and spillage. Structural and load-bearing work must follow your local building code and an engineer's specification.

Free · job list

Save this pour to the job

A job list keeps every pour together and totals them into one order - the combined volume, and the bags counted once for the whole job instead of pour by pour. It stays in this browser; there is no account and nothing is uploaded.

Optional - appears on the schedule.
Grouped on the schedule so you know what to batch.
Open the job list

Pour sheet · free preview

Your job card, started

This is the real document, built from the numbers you just entered. The free preview runs to the first 2 of its 4 sections. Premium adds the 2 still to come - the bag table with the mixing water each size takes, your mix with its bucket-batching table, and the cure notes - and prints the whole sheet, or saves it as a PDF, with everything else on this page stripped out.

Column & sonotube calculator

Round columns and sonotube piers - π·r²·height. · September 2, 2026 · MixRatio

Dimensions

Diameter
12 in
Height
4 ft
Number of columns
1

Volume

Cubic yards
0.12 yd³
Cubic metres
0.089 m³
Cubic feet
3.14 ft³
Waste allowance
None

Planning estimate. Bag counts assume the yields listed above - check the yield printed on your bag - and allow extra for over-excavation and spillage. Structural and load-bearing work must follow your local building code and a qualified engineer's specification.

Everything stays in this browser - nothing is uploaded and there is no account.

Premium

What Premium adds to this pour

Your volume, your bag counts and the start of your pour sheet are above, free, and they stay that way. Everything held back is listed here, in full - there is nothing else.

  • The complete printable pour sheet. Free builds the first 2 sections of the real document from your own numbers - what you are pouring, and how much of it, in yards, metres and feet. Premium finishes the job card: the bag count for every size with the mixing water each takes, your mix ratio with a bucket-batching table if you are batching on site, and the cure notes, then prints it or saves it as a PDF with everything else on the page stripped out.
  • Cost estimator - put in what your yard charges per bag and per cubic yard, and see bagged versus ready-mix totalled side by side.
  • A job list with no limit. Save pour after pour from any calculator and keep them together as one job. Free holds 2 pours so you can see the workspace work; Premium takes the whole job, however many pours it runs to.
  • The batch schedule as a document. Your saved pours totalled into one order - the combined volume, the bags to buy counted once against the whole job rather than pour by pour, and the mixes to batch - printed as a one-page schedule for the supplier, or exported as a CSV for your own sheet.

Every calculator, mix-ratio reference, worked-example guide and the rebar estimator stay free forever - full volume, yardage and bag counts included.

Formwork

How the volume is measured

diameterheightV = π·r²·hROUND COLUMN / SONOTUBE

How this calculator works

A round column or sonotube form holds a cylinder of concrete: area π·(diameter/2)² times its height, multiplied by how many you are pouring. Enter the tube's inside diameter - that is the finished column diameter.

The volume is then converted to cubic yards (27 cubic feet to the yard) and cubic metres, and divided by each bag's yield to give a bag count - always rounded up, since you cannot buy part of a bag. Bag yields follow the published premix figures: 0.30 ft³ for a 40 lb bag, 0.45 ft³ for 60 lb and 0.60 ft³ for 80 lb, with metric bags scaled from the same mixed density.

Add a waste allowance for anything real: over-excavated trenches, uneven sub-grade, spillage and what stays in the mixer. Five to ten percent is typical; a rough excavation can need more.

Worked examples

Common column sizes, already calculated

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