How this sand calculator works
Sand sells by the ton or the yard, and the bridge between them is density — about 1.35 tons per cubic yard dry, 1.5 damp. The calculator turns your area and depth into both, with a spillage allowance:
tons = yd³ × density × (1 + allowance%) → rounded up to ¼ ton
The order rounds to the quarter ton a supplier will actually weigh out, the bag line divides the same volume by the half cubic foot in a 50 lb bag, and the coverage line shows what one ton spreads at your depth. At the defaults — a 20 × 10 ft paver bed, 1 in of bedding — that’s 1 ton, about $40 bulk; the line-by-line math is in the worked example below.
What kind of sand do I need?
Sharp sand for anything structural, soft sand for anything touchable — gradation, not color, is what you’re choosing. The five sands a yard actually stocks:
Concrete sand
Coarse, angular, washed — the ASTM C33 gradation. It’s the sand for paver bedding (it screeds flat and locks under compaction), for mixing concrete, and for drainage layers. When a landscape plan just says “sand,” this is usually the one.
Masonry (mason) sand
The same clean sand screened finer, so mortar spreads like butter and joints tool smooth. It also makes the best-feeling volleyball courts and a passable upgrade sandbox fill. Slightly pricier than concrete sand for the extra screening.
Play sand
Washed, screened and tumbled soft for hands and knees. It’s a comfort product, not a construction one — too fine and rounded to screed or bear load. Bagged is the norm; bulk washed play sand exists where kids’ volume gets serious.
Fill sand
Unwashed, often damp, straight from the pit — the cheap bulk sand for filling voids, bedding pipe and building up grade under slabs. It compacts better than clean sand precisely because of its fines. Estimate it at the damp 1.5 t/yd³ figure.
Polymeric sand
Joint sand blended with binders that harden after wetting — it goes between laid pavers, never under them. Sold by the bag and figured by joint area, it’s a separate line from the bedding this calculator prices.
| Product | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Concrete sand, per ton | $30–50 |
| Masonry sand, per ton | $35–55 |
| Fill sand, per ton | $15–30 |
| Play sand, 50 lb bag | $4–6 |
| Polymeric, 50 lb bag | $20–40 |
How deep should sand be?
One screeded inch under pavers, a compacted two under pools, a kid-pleasing six-plus in a sandbox — sand depth is set by the job, and more is usually worse:
- Paver bedding: 1 in screeded — no more; thick sand beds rut. The structure is the compacted stone base below, which the paver base calculator prices as its own layer.
- Sandboxes: 6–8 in of washed play sand feels right; deeper just disappears into the yard.
- Under a pool: 2 in leveled and compacted, dead flat — sand fixes grade, not slope.
- Pipe and utility bedding: 4–6 in of fill sand around the pipe, per the utility’s spec.
- Mortar work: figure sand from your mix ratio — a 1:3 mortar uses about 1 ton of sand per 9 bags of cement.
How much does a ton of sand cover?
One ton of dry sand occupies about 20 ft³ (27 ÷ 1.35), so coverage is that volume over your depth — 240 ft² at a 1 in screed. Table 2 is the coverage line; Table 3 turns common jobs straight into orders.
| Depth | Coverage |
|---|---|
| 1 in | ≈ 240 ft² |
| 2 in | ≈ 120 ft² |
| 3 in | ≈ 80 ft² |
| Job | Order | 0.5 ft³ bags |
|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft bedding, 1″ | 0.5 t | 19 |
| 20 × 10 ft bedding, 1″ | 1 t | 37 |
| 15 × 15 ft pool pad, 2″ | 2.25 t | 83 |
| 8 × 8 ft sandbox, 8″ | 2.5 t | 94 |
How to measure for sand
Sand jobs are thin, so the depth decision matters more than the tape work. Dimension fields take feet-inches (20, 20 ft 6 in) or metric (6 m).
- Measure length and width of the bed. Odd patios break into rectangles — total them with the square footage calculator and run one order.
- Pick the depth from the guide above — and resist deepening a paver screed; extra sand is future ruts, not extra quality.
- Pick dry or damp density. Quarry sand usually ships damp (1.5 t/yd³) — if the scale ticket will be wet, estimate wet.
- Leave the allowance at 10% for screeding overage and spillage; screeds always eat more than the math says.
- Enter the per-ton quote — or the bag price when the job is small enough to carry.
- Sanity-check with coverage: the live line shows what one ton spreads at your depth. A 1-ton minimum covers most patios’ bedding in one drop.
Worked example: sand for a 20 × 10 ft paver bed
The defaults, worked line by line — 200 ft² screeded 1 in deep, dry sand, 10% allowance, $40 a ton against $5 bags:
volume = 200 × (1 ÷ 12) = 16.7 ft³ = 16.7 ÷ 27 = 0.62 yd³
weight = 0.62 × 1.35 = 0.83 tons
allowance = 0.83 × 1.10 = 0.92 → order 1 ton (¼-ton rounding)
cost = 1 × $40 = $40 bulk
bag check = (16.7 × 1.10) ÷ 0.5 = 36.7 → 37 bags ≈ $185
Cross-check from the coverage direction: one ton covers 240 ft² at 1 in, and 200 ÷ 240 = 0.83 tons — same answer. The $40-versus-$185 spread is the entire bulk-or-bags decision: bags carry a 4–5× premium that only tiny jobs can ignore.
What this sand estimate doesn’t include
The calculator prices the sand pile. On a paver job the sand is the cheapest line on the ticket — these are the rest:
- The stone base. The 4–6 in compacted crushed layer under the bedding — a bigger tonnage than the sand, priced separately.
- Delivery. A flat $50–150 per load; combine the sand with the base stone drop when the quarry carries both.
- Screed rails and labor. Pipe rails, a straightedge, and the patient half-day of pulling flat.
- Polymeric joint sand. The between-the-pavers product, bought by the bag after laying.
- Plate compactor rental. About $90–120 a day — for the base always, and for seating pavers after laying.
- Weed fabric and edge restraint. The perimeter hardware that keeps the whole sandwich where you built it.
Sand FAQ
How much sand do I need for pavers?
A 1 in screeded bedding layer: the default 20 × 10 ft patio takes 1 ton of sand (0.62 yd³ exact, ordered as 0.75 yd³ or 37 half-cubic-foot bags). Concrete or coarse washed sand screeds best — fine play sand stays spongy underfoot.
How many tons of sand are in a cubic yard?
About 1.35 tons dry, rising to roughly 1.5 tons when damp — sand holds water, which is why the scale ticket on a wet load reads heavy. The calculator lets you pick either figure.
How much does a ton of sand cover?
At 1 in deep, about 240 ft²; at 2 in, 120 ft²; at 3 in, 80 ft². The live coverage line under the drawing recomputes for whatever depth you set.
How many bags of sand make a ton?
About 40: a ton of dry sand occupies roughly 20 ft³ and the common bag holds half a cubic foot (about 50 lb). At $4–6 a bag that ton costs $160–240 bagged against $30–50 in bulk — bags are for wheelbarrow-size jobs only.
How much sand for a sandbox?
An 8 × 8 ft sandbox filled 8 in deep takes about 42.7 ft³ — roughly 2.5 tons of play sand, or 94 half-cubic-foot bags. Buy washed, screened play sand for anything kids touch.
Can I use play sand for pavers?
No — play sand is fine, rounded and washed soft, so it never locks up under a screed; pavers set on it stay spongy and rock loose. Bedding wants coarse, angular concrete sand. The same logic runs in reverse: sharp concrete sand is miserable in a sandbox.
What kind of sand for masonry and concrete work?
Masonry (mason) sand is finer and screeds smooth for mortar beds; concrete sand is coarser and sharper for mixing and paver bedding. They weigh about the same for estimating — the difference is gradation, not density.
How much does sand cost?
Bulk concrete and masonry sand commonly run $30–50 a ton in 2026, fill sand less, with delivery a flat $50–150 on top. The default 1-ton paver bed is about $40 in bulk against $185 in bags — the crossover argument in one line.
Sources and standards
The gradations and figures on this page come from the specs sand is actually screened to:
- ASTM C33: the fine-aggregate gradation that defines concrete sand — and the ICPI-recommended bedding sand for pavers.
- ASTM C144: the masonry-sand spec behind mortar work.
- ICPI guidance: the 1 in screeded bedding standard this page’s depth guide follows.
- The scale ticket: 1.35 dry / 1.5 damp t/yd³ are estimating figures — moisture swings sand weight more than any other aggregate, and the weighed ticket governs.
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