Sand calculator
How much sand you need in cubic yards, tons and bags for pavers, a sandbox or an arena, with cost per ton, per yard or per bag.
Your material adds up to
0.98 cubic yards
- Tons
- 1.27 tons
- Bags (50 lb)
- 51
- Pounds
- 2,532 lb
- Volume
- 26.4 cu ft
- Compacted volume
- 0.89 yd³
- Estimated cost
Loose sand to order for 144 sq ft, at a typical 1.295 tons per loose cubic yard, including the extra you set. Bags are counted by weight; bagged sand is usually dry. Sand pits vary, so use your supplier's weight with "Other" if they give one.
How much sand do I need?
Sand yards sell bulk sand by the cubic yard or by the ton, and stores sell it in bags by weight. The calculator finds the volume of your area, adds more if you'll compact it, then uses the weight of a loose yard of sand to get tons, pounds and bags. For gravel or crushed stone under the sand, use the stone calculator or the gravel calculator; for fill dirt and topsoil, the dirt calculator.
- Area = length × width (or 3.1416 × radius² for a circle), in square feet
- Cubic feet = area × depth in feet (inches ÷ 12)
- Compaction: if the depth is measured after compacting, multiply by compacted weight ÷ loose weight (3,240 ÷ 2,590 for dry sand)
- Cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27, plus your extra percentage
- Tons = cubic yards × tons per loose cubic yard (1.295 for typical dry sand)
- Bags = pounds ÷ bag weight, rounded up
Worked example
A 12 ft × 12 ft area, 2 inches of dry sand: 144 sq ft × 2 ÷ 12 = 24 cu ft. 24 ÷ 27 = 0.89 cubic yards, and 0.89 × 1.295 = 1.15 tons (2,302 lb). In 50 lb bags, 2,302 ÷ 50 rounds up to 47 bags, before any extra.
How much a yard of sand weighs
Typical estimating weights from the FHWA Federal Lands Project Development and Design Manual, Earthwork Design, Exhibit 5.1 A, which says they vary about 5%; the range column is that 5% either side. The table has one row for sand, dry and wet, not separate rows for play, mason, concrete or fill sand, so this calculator uses the same weight for all of them. Your supplier's figure is better than either, so enter it with "Other" if they give one.
| Sand | Typical, lb per yd³ | Range, lb per yd³ | Tons per yd³ | Compacted, lb per yd³ | Per gallon | Per 5 gallons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sand, dry | 2,590 | 2,461 to 2,720 | 1.295 | 3,240 | 12.8 lb | 64 lb |
| Sand, wet | 3,230 | 3,069 to 3,392 | 1.615 | 3,460 | 16.0 lb | 80 lb |
How far sand goes
| Depth, loose | Sq ft per cubic yard | Tons per 100 sq ft | 50 lb bags per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 | 0.40 | 16 |
| 2 in | 162 | 0.80 | 32 |
| 3 in | 108 | 1.20 | 48 |
| 6 in | 54 | 2.40 | 96 |
| 12 in | 27 | 4.80 | 192 |
At the typical 1.295 tons per yard for dry sand, no extra.
Sand questions
How much does a yard of sand weigh?
A loose cubic yard of dry sand weighs about 2,590 pounds (1.295 tons), typically 2,461 to 2,720 pounds. Wet sand is heavier, about 3,230 pounds (1.615 tons), because water fills the gaps between grains. Turned around, a ton of dry sand is about 0.77 cubic yards, or 20.8 cubic feet. Prices vary by region and delivery distance; enter yours above per ton or per yard to compare quotes.
How much does a gallon or a 5-gallon bucket of sand weigh?
A US gallon is 231 cubic inches, so at the same weights a gallon of dry sand weighs about 12.8 pounds and a gallon of wet sand about 16.0 pounds. A 5-gallon bucket filled level holds about 64 pounds of dry sand or 80 pounds of wet sand.
How many bags of sand do I need?
Bagged sand is sold by weight; the QUIKRETE Sand & Gravel Products data sheet (revised November 2020) lists 50, 60, 70 lb bags. Choose your bag size above and the calculator divides the pounds by the bag weight. A 6 × 6 ft sandbox filled 6 inches deep takes about 1,727 pounds of dry sand, or 35 bags of 50 lb. For a big job, compare the bag price with a bulk delivery: bulk is priced per ton or per yard.
How much sand do I need for pavers?
The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI Tech Spec 17, Bedding Sand Selection for Interlocking Concrete Pavements (revised February 2018)) says bedding sand should be screeded loose to an even 1 to 1.5 inches, meeting the ASTM C33 grading for concrete sand, and that limestone screenings and stone dust are not recommended for bedding. A 12 × 12 ft patio with 1 inch of bedding sand needs about 0.44 cubic yards, or 24 bags of 50 lb, before extra. Press "Paver bedding" to start there, and use the stone calculator for the compacted base underneath. Polymeric sand for the joints is a different product: how far a bag goes depends on the paver size and joint width, so use the coverage chart from its manufacturer rather than this calculator.
Do play sand, mason sand, concrete sand and fill sand weigh different amounts?
They can, but no published estimating table we could find lists them separately, so this calculator uses one sand weight, dry or wet, and says so. The names describe grading and cleaning, not weight: concrete sand is a coarse sand graded to ASTM C33, mason (mortar) sand is a finer sand graded to ASTM C144, play sand is washed and screened for sandboxes, and fill sand is whatever local sand is sold for filling. Moisture changes the weight much more than the name does. If your supplier gives a weight for their product, enter it with "Other".
How much sand do I need for a pool filter or an arena?
A pool sand filter takes a set amount of filter sand, printed on the filter's label or in its manual in pounds, so use that number rather than a volume calculator. For a riding arena, the depth of footing depends on the base, the sand and how the arena is used, so ask your sand supplier or arena builder for the depth, then enter it here. The "Arena" preset starts from a 60 × 120 ft arena at 3 inches, which needs about 86 tons of dry sand before extra.