A 20 × 10 ft patio bedded on 2 inches of sand takes 33 cubic feet, 1.23 cubic yards, of sand in place. With 10 % for compaction and 5 % for waste you order 1.43 yards, about 1.9 tons of concrete sand, or 77 bags of 50 lb if you buy it bagged. The calculator above works this out for any area, depth and sand, in cubic yards, tons, bags and truck loads.
How the calculator works
Enter the length, width and depth, an area and depth, or the volume or weight you already know. Pick the sand: concrete sand, fill sand, play sand, or masonry sand for mortar. The calculator gives the volume to order, the weight, the 50 lb bags and the truck loads.
Volume and weight
Volume is length × width × depth: feet × feet × inches ÷ 12 gives cubic feet, and dividing by 27 gives cubic yards. Weight is volume times density. Dry sand weighs about 1.3 to 1.35 tons per loose cubic yard. Damp sand behaves differently: water films hold the grains apart and the sand bulks, so a cubic yard of damp loose masonry sand weighs less, about 80 lb per cubic foot or 1.08 tons per yard, the figure NCMA uses for mortar batching. Wet sand, with the spaces between grains filled with water, is heavier again. The density on your supplier's ticket is the one to use; the calculator accepts it.
| Sand | Typical tons per cubic yard | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete sand | 1.35 | Concrete, paver and flagstone bedding |
| Fill sand | 1.30 | Backfill, leveling, under slabs |
| Play sand | 1.30 | Sandboxes, washed and screened |
| Masonry sand, damp loose | 1.08 | Mortar (NCMA TEK 04-02A) |
Compaction and waste
Sand compacts under a plate compactor or when it is wetted and screeded; 10 % is a usual allowance for bedding and fill. Waste covers spillage and low spots. Play sand in a sandbox is not compacted, so set the compaction to zero there.
How much sand for pavers, a sandbox or mortar
Pavers and flagstones are usually bedded on 1 in of screeded concrete sand over a compacted stone base; joints are filled with polymeric or fine sand, which is a separate small quantity. A sandbox is commonly filled 6 to 12 in deep. For mortar, sand is the largest ingredient: one cubic foot of damp sand makes about one cubic foot of mortar, and a ton of damp sand is about 25 cubic feet. The Mortar Calculator works out the sand for a number of blocks or brick directly.
Bags or bulk
Bagged sand comes in 50 lb bags, about 0.5 ft³ each, so a ton is 40 bags. That suits a sandbox or a few repairs. For more than about half a yard, bulk delivery is cheaper. A tandem dump truck carries about 14 yd³ or 15 tons; for sand the payload is reached at about 11 yards.
Common mistakes
- Using one density for all sand. Damp masonry sand weighs about 20 % less per yard than dry concrete sand. Order by the supplier's unit and density.
- Bedding too thick. More than about 1½ in of sand under pavers lets them rock and rut; build the height with the stone base instead.
- Forgetting joint sand. It is a different, finer product, bought separately.
For the stone base under the sand, use the Gravel Calculator; to convert other materials, the Cubic Yards to Tons Calculator.