What to do with excess dirt
The cheapest way to get rid of excess dirt is to give it to someone nearby who needs fill — on a free local exchange like Dirtly, a neighbor or contractor often takes it for nothing but the hauling. Beyond that, your options run from clean-fill drop-off sites to paid removal, which in Northeast Ohio can cost from a few hundred dollars up to $1,400–$2,300 per load.
First, know how much you actually have
Dirt swells when you dig it. Undisturbed ground grows about 20% in volume once it's loosened — so a hole that measures 10 cubic yards becomes roughly 12 loose yards sitting in a pile or a truck. Removal quotes are priced on the loose yardage, not the hole. Run your pile through the calculator's "I have dirt" mode to get yards, tons, and truckloads before you call anyone.
Your options, cheapest first
Give it away locally
Somebody within a few miles is probably planning to buy what you're trying to dump — filling a low spot, backfilling a pool, building up a pad. On Dirtly you can drop a mound pin for free, say what the material is and how much there is, and let people come to you. If they haul it, your cost is zero. This works best for clean fill and topsoil; it works less well for material full of debris.
Offer it to landscapers and excavators
Local landscape yards, excavation companies, and pool installers burn through fill constantly, and some will take clean material — occasionally they'll even pick it up if they have a job nearby that needs it. A two-minute phone call is cheap. Lead with what the material is, how much, and how easy your site is to load from.
Take it to a clean-fill site
Some quarries, landscape suppliers, and reclamation sites accept clean fill, sometimes free and sometimes for a small tipping fee. The catch is in the word clean: soil, clay, sand, and rock — no roots, sod, trash, concrete chunks, or construction debris. Always call first: accepted materials, hours, and fees vary site to site, and showing up with a rejected load is an expensive way to learn the rules.
Pay for removal
Full-service dirt removal — they load, they haul, they dispose — is the no-effort option and priced like it. In Northeast Ohio, small jobs start at a few hundred dollars, and larger ones run $1,400 to $2,300 per load. Access matters as much as volume: a pile a dump truck can back up to costs far less to move than one that has to be wheelbarrowed out of a back yard.
Northeast Ohio estimates, 2026.
What counts as "clean fill"
Clean fill is uncontaminated earth: soil, clay, sand, gravel, rock. It is not sod, stumps, roots, brush, asphalt, treated lumber, drywall, or anything with a chemical smell. Receiving sites care because they're liable for what goes in their ground. If your pile came out of a normal residential dig, it's probably fine — but if it includes old foundation backfill or debris, expect sites to turn it away and haulers to charge more.
Questions a hauler will ask you
Have answers ready for these and your quotes get sharper: How many yards, roughly? What's in it — clean soil, or mixed with debris? Can a truck get to the pile? Is it loose or still in the ground? When does it need to be gone? If you don't know the yardage, the calculator gets you close enough for a quote.
Northeast Ohio considerations
Spring and early summer are peak season here — excavators are busy, which means more competition for haul-away slots but also more active projects that need fill. If your timeline is flexible, listing the pile early and letting a taker come to you beats paying peak-season removal rates.
Have a pile right now? Drop a mound pin — it's free, and the person who needs your dirt might be a street away. Or see how Dirtly works first.