Sand Calculator

How to work it out

1. Measure the area

   Length and width of the space the sand will cover. Odd shapes get a section each.

2. Get the depth right

   This is where sand jobs go wrong. Paver bedding is 1 in and no more. A sandbox is 6–10 in. An above-ground pool base is 2 in. Leveling under a shed is 1–2 in over compacted stone.

3. Choose bulk or bags

   Above about half a cubic yard — roughly 27 fifty-pound bags — bulk delivery is cheaper and far less carrying. Below that, bags win.

4. Keep it dry until you screed

   Wet bedding sand will not screed flat and settles unevenly under pavers. Cover the pile if rain is coming.

Sand by area and depth

Cubic yards, with no allowance added.

Area	1 in	2 in	4 in	6 in
50 sq ft	0.15	0.31	0.62	0.93
100 sq ft	0.31	0.62	1.23	1.85
200 sq ft	0.62	1.23	2.47	3.70
400 sq ft	1.23	2.47	4.94	7.41
800 sq ft	2.47	4.94	9.88	14.81

Which sand for which job

Asking for the wrong one is the commonest mistake at the yard.

Job	Ask for	Depth
Under pavers	Concrete or bedding sand, sharp	1 in
Between pavers	Polymeric jointing sand	fill the joints
Sandbox	Washed play sand	6–10 in
Above-ground pool base	Mason or play sand	2 in
Mixing concrete or mortar	Concrete sand / mason sand	—
Filling block cores	Fill or mason sand	—

How much sand do I need?

Area in square feet, times depth in feet, divided by 27 gives cubic yards. A 12 × 12 ft patio with a 1 in bedding layer needs 0.44 cubic yards, or about half a yard delivered.

Sand is sold both ways: bulk yards from a landscape supplier, or by the ton from a quarry. A cubic yard of dry concrete sand weighs roughly 2,700 lb, so about 1.35 tons.

One inch under pavers, and no more

Bedding sand is a leveling layer, not a base. It goes 1 in deep over compacted crushed stone, screeded flat, and is never compacted before the pavers go down.

Thicker sand is the main reason patios go wavy: it keeps consolidating under traffic long after the job is finished. If the ground is uneven, fix it in the stone base, not with more sand.

Bags or bulk?

A 50 lb bag holds about half a cubic foot, so it takes 54 bags to make a cubic yard. At that point a bulk delivery is cheaper and saves a long afternoon of lifting.

Bags make sense for sandboxes, small repairs and anything you cannot get a truck to.

How this is worked out

No black box — here is the arithmetic the calculator runs, so you can check it against your own numbers.

1. area = length × width, summed over every section The ground the sand covers.
2. cubic feet = area × depth ÷ 12 Depth is entered in inches.
3. × (1 + extra %) Screeding losses and low spots.
4. cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27 How bulk sand is sold.
5. tons = cubic yards × pounds per yard ÷ 2,000 For suppliers who sell by weight.

Common questions

How much sand do I need for pavers?

1 in of bedding sand over the compacted base: about 0.31 cubic yards per 100 sq ft, or 17 fifty-pound bags.

How many 50 lb bags of sand in a cubic yard?

About 54. Each bag holds roughly half a cubic foot, and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.

How much does a yard of sand weigh?

Around 2,700 lb dry, which is 1.35 tons. Damp sand runs closer to 2,900 lb, and that difference matters when you are buying by weight.

What kind of sand goes under pavers?

Coarse concrete or bedding sand, sometimes called sharp sand. Not play sand and not mason sand — the rounded grains in those keep moving under load.

How much sand for a sandbox?

Washed play sand, 6 to 10 in deep. A 4 × 4 ft box at 8 in takes about 10.7 cubic feet, which is roughly twenty-two 50 lb bags or 0.4 cubic yards.

How much sand under an above-ground pool?

2 in across the whole base. A 24 ft round pool needs about 2.8 cubic yards, though many installers now use a base pad over compacted ground instead.

Should I compact bedding sand?

No. Screed it level and lay straight onto it. Compaction happens when the pavers are plate-tamped afterwards.

Where these figures come from

Every figure below is traceable. How we check the numbers explains how they are verified, and the coverage reference collects them all in one place.

• Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute guidance — the 1 in bedding sand layer and base preparation
• Quarry and landscape supply bulk density tables — typical weights for concrete, mason and play sand
• Bagged sand product labels — the cubic feet in a 50 lb bag

Think a number here is wrong? Tell us — we check every report, correct the page, and date the change. Last checked September 27, 2026.