Sand Calculator

How the sand calculator works

A 10 × 10-ft area covered 2 inches deep takes 0.65 cubic yards of paver sand — about 0.97 tons, or 39 fifty-pound bags. That's 100 sq ft × 0.167 ft = 16.7 cu ft, or 17.5 cu ft with a 5% waste factor, divided by 27 cu ft per cubic yard; paver/concrete sand weighs about 1.5 tons per cubic yard. At just under a yard, bags and bulk delivery cost about the same.

The math: volume = area × depth with appropriate unit conversions. Mass comes from multiplying volume by the sand type's density. Bag count = total weight ÷ bag weight, rounded up. Note that the bag count is derived from weight, not from volume — which is the correct way to do it, because a 50-lb bag of coarse paver sand and a 50-lb bag of fine play sand hold noticeably different volumes.

Choosing a sand type

"Sand" is a particle-size class, not a product. Everything from 0.06 mm to 2 mm counts, and the difference between the fine end and the coarse end decides whether your pavers stay flat or your mortar cracks. Two properties matter when you are choosing: grain shape (angular grains interlock and hold a load; rounded grains roll past each other and stay loose) and gradation (a well-graded sand has a spread of sizes that pack tightly; a uniformly graded sand has one size and stays open and free-draining).

Price bands above are US planning ranges for 2026 and move sharply with how far you are from a pit — hauling dominates the cost of any low-value bulk material. Confirm with a local supplier before you budget.

The most expensive mistake on this page is using play sand as paver bedding. It looks like the right thing, it is cheap at the home center, and it is uniformly graded and rounded — so under load the grains migrate, the bedding layer redistributes, and the patio develops dips within two seasons. Bedding sand must be coarse, angular concrete sand (often sold as ASTM C33 sand). The reverse mistake is milder but still worth avoiding: concrete sand in a sandbox is sharp, dusty, and unpleasant on bare feet.

Typical depths by use

• Paver bedding — 1 in / 2.5 cm of coarse paver sand, screeded flat. Not thicker: a deep sand bed is a compressible layer, and it is the single most common cause of a settling patio.
• Sandbox — 6 in / 15 cm of washed play sand. Deep enough to dig in, shallow enough to rake clean.
• Beach volleyball court — 12 in / 30 cm of soft play or volleyball sand over a drainage layer. Competitive courts go deeper still.
• Mason work — calculate from the mortar mix ratio (typically 1 part cement : 2.5–3 parts mason sand by volume) rather than from an area and a depth.
• Slab or shed base — 2 in / 5 cm of leveling sand on top of compacted gravel.
• Above-ground pool base — 2 in / 5 cm of fine sand, screeded dead level. Level matters far more than depth here.
• Pipe or conduit bedding — 4–6 in / 10–15 cm of concrete sand beneath and around the pipe, per your local utility spec.

Coverage, and how many bags are in a cubic yard

A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so coverage is 27 ÷ depth in feet — the same arithmetic regardless of what the material is. The bag count, however, depends on density, because bags are sold by weight:

You will often see "about 54 bags per cubic yard" quoted as a universal figure. That number comes from assuming a 50-lb bag holds exactly half a cubic foot (27 ÷ 0.5 = 54), which is a rough average across all sands rather than a fact about any one of them. Working from density instead gives 52 bags for washed play sand and 64 for fill sand — a spread of more than 20%, which is the difference between one trip and two. This calculator uses the density route.

Bagged or bulk — where the break-even actually sits

Bulk is cheaper per unit and always has been. What makes the decision non-obvious is that bulk carries fixed costs bags do not: a delivery fee, a load minimum, and a pile in your driveway that you have to move with a wheelbarrow before it rains.

The break-even lands near half a cubic yard at typical pricing, and it moves toward bags if your supplier's delivery fee is high or you can pick up bagged sand in a trip you were making anyway. Above one cubic yard the argument is over. Two practical notes: most yards will let you load bulk sand into your own truck and skip the delivery fee entirely, and a cubic yard of sand weighs roughly 2,600–3,200 lb, which exceeds the payload rating of most half-ton pickups. Check the sticker in the driver's door jamb; half a yard is a realistic half-ton load.

Moisture, bulking, and compaction

Sand is the one bulk material where water measurably changes the volume you receive. Damp sand grains hold thin films of water that hold neighbouring grains apart — the effect is called bulking, and it peaks at roughly 4–6% moisture content. Saturate the same sand and the films collapse, so wet sand occupies about the same volume as dry sand while weighing considerably more.

Two rules follow. If your supplier sells by weight, buy from a covered pile or after a dry spell — you are paying for water otherwise. If they sell by volume, damp stock is slightly in your favour on paper but you will lose it back to settling. Either way, the calculator reports loose delivered volume, which is what you buy; do not subtract compaction from it and then add a waste factor on top, or you will come up short.

Worked example: a 8 × 6-ft sandbox

Enter 8 ft × 6 ft, 6 inches deep, washed play sand at 1.3 tons/cu yd, and leave the waste factor at 5%. The area is 48 sq ft; 48 × 0.5 ft = 24 cubic feet, and 24 × 1.05 = 25.2 cubic feet. Divide by 27 for 0.93 cubic yards. At 1.3 tons per cubic yard that is 1.21 tons, which is 2,427 lb, or 49 fifty-pound bags.

This is exactly the awkward middle of the range. Forty-nine bags is a full pallet's worth of lifting and about $250–$390; one cubic yard delivered is around $125 but leaves you 7% short unless you round up, and dumps a wet pile you must shovel into a box. Most people split the difference: order the yard, use the surplus to level a path. Whatever you do, insist on washed play sand — unwashed sand carries silt and fine dust that is unpleasant to breathe around children.

Worked example: bedding sand for a 16 × 12-ft paver patio

Enter 16 ft × 12 ft, 1 inch deep, paver/concrete sand at 1.5 tons/cu yd, 5% waste. Area is 192 sq ft; 192 × 0.0833 ft = 16 cubic feet, ×1.05 = 16.8 cubic feet, or 0.62 cubic yards. At 1.5 tons/cu yd that is 0.93 tons — 1,867 lb, or 38 fifty-pound bags.

Notice how little sand a patio actually takes: two-thirds of a yard for a room-sized paver field, because the bedding course is only an inch deep. The gravel base underneath is the big order — typically 4–6 inches of compacted roadbase, which for the same 192 sq ft runs 2.5–3.7 cubic yards. Size that with the gravel calculator, and remember that joint sand is a third, separate purchase.

What sand costs

As a 2026 US planning range: bulk sand runs roughly $15–$35 per cubic yard for fill, $25–$55 for mason and concrete sand, and $45–$80 for washed play sand, plus a $50–$150 delivery fee depending on distance and load size. Bagged 50-lb sand at the home centers runs about $4–$9 depending on type, with washed play sand at the top of that range. Specialty products — polymeric joint sand, filter sand for pool systems, coloured decorative sand — are priced in an entirely different bracket and are not what this calculator estimates. Enter your quoted local price in the Advanced options above and the calculator will total the job.

Frequently asked questions

For paver projects, see the paver calculator, which sizes pavers, bedding, and base in one shopping list. For the gravel layer beneath, use the gravel calculator.