Free online tool • Every common sand
Sand Calculator
This sand calculator tells you how much sand to buy for paver bedding, a pool base, a sandbox, fill, leveling or a volleyball court. Enter the area and depth, choose the type of sand, and get tons, cubic yards, bags and cost.
How Much Sand Do I Need?
Sand Calculation Formula
Every sand calculator uses the same three steps, and you can check any result by hand:
1. Sand volume
Multiply length by width in feet to get square feet, then by the depth in feet (inches ÷ 12). A 10 × 10 ft area 2 inches deep holds 100 × 0.167 = 16.7 cubic feet of sand.
2. Sand in cubic yards
Divide by 27, because a cubic yard is 3 × 3 × 3 feet: 16.7 ÷ 27 = 0.62 cubic yards.
3. Tons of sand
Multiply by the sand's weight in tons per cubic yard. Dry concrete sand is about 1.35, so 0.62 × 1.35 = 0.83 tons. Add 10 percent for spillage and settling and order about 0.9 tons, or 37 bags of 50 lb.
Sand Weight
Weight is what turns a sand volume into the tonnage a sand yard will load. Dry sand weighs about 100 lbs per cubic foot, but water fills the gaps between the grains and can add a fifth to that.
| Sand type | Lbs per cubic foot | Tons per cubic yard | Lbs per cubic yard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concrete sand (dry) | 100 | 1.35 | 2,700 |
| Silica sand (dry) | 100 | 1.35 | 2,700 |
| Masonry sand (dry) | 96 | 1.30 | 2,600 |
| Play sand (dry) | 96 | 1.30 | 2,600 |
| Fill sand (dry) | 96 | 1.30 | 2,600 |
| Wet sand | 119 | 1.60 | 3,200 |
Sand Coverage
| Depth | 1 cubic yard of sand covers | 1 ton of sand covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 sq ft | 240 sq ft |
| 2 in | 162 sq ft | 120 sq ft |
| 3 in | 108 sq ft | 80 sq ft |
| 4 in | 81 sq ft | 60 sq ft |
| 6 in | 54 sq ft | 40 sq ft |
| 12 in | 27 sq ft | 20 sq ft |
How Many Bags of Sand Do I Need?
A 50 lb bag of dry sand holds about half a cubic foot, so it takes about 54 bags to make a cubic yard and 40 bags to make a ton. One 50 lb bag covers roughly 6 sq ft at 1 inch deep or 3 sq ft at 2 inches. The sand calculator rounds bags up to the next whole bag. Bagged sand costs three to six times as much per ton as bulk, so once you need more than about a ton, delivery from a sand yard is usually cheaper.
Sand Types
- Concrete sand — coarse, sharp and drains well. Used for concrete, paver bedding and pool bases. Work it out with the paver bedding sand tool.
- Masonry sand — fine and uniform; for mortar, volleyball courts and as a soft finish layer. Details on the masonry sand page.
- Play sand — washed and screened fine sand for sandboxes. Bag counts by size on the sandbox sand page.
- Fill sand — unwashed, inexpensive sand for raising grade and backfilling.
- Silica sand — high-purity quartz sand used in pool filters, golf bunkers and industry.
- Polymeric sand — joint sand with binders for paver joints; it is worked out by joint size on the polymeric sand page.
Sand Cost
Bulk sand from a sand and gravel yard typically costs $15 to $30 per ton for fill sand, $30 to $50 for concrete and masonry sand, and $40 to $80 for washed play sand or silica sand. Delivery adds $75 to $200 per load. A 50 lb bag of all-purpose or play sand costs $5 to $8 at a home center. Enter your local price per ton and the sand calculator adds the material cost to the result.
Related Sand Calculators
Sand calculators for specific jobs, using the same volume and weight maths:
- Paver sand calculator — bedding and leveling sand under pavers
- Sandbox sand calculator — bags of play sand by sandbox size
- Pool sand calculator — sand base for above-ground pools
- Polymeric sand calculator — joint sand by paver and joint size
- Sand and cement calculator — concrete and mortar mix quantities
- Sand and gravel calculator — gravel base and sand layer together
Sand weights follow typical loose bulk densities for construction sand; the USGS construction sand and gravel statistics publish national production and price data.
Sand Calculator FAQ
How do I calculate how much sand I need?
Multiply length by width by depth in feet to get cubic feet, divide by 27 for cubic yards, then multiply by about 1.35 for tons of dry sand. A 10 by 10 ft area 2 inches deep needs 0.62 cubic yards, or about 0.83 tons of sand.
How much does a cubic yard of sand weigh?
A cubic yard of dry sand weighs about 2,600 to 2,700 lbs, or 1.30 to 1.35 tons. Wet sand can weigh 3,000 to 3,200 lbs per cubic yard.
How much area does a ton of sand cover?
One ton of dry sand covers about 240 sq ft at 1 inch deep, 120 sq ft at 2 inches, 80 sq ft at 3 inches and 60 sq ft at 4 inches.
How many bags of sand are in a yard?
About 54 bags of 50 lb sand make a cubic yard, because each bag holds roughly half a cubic foot and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.
How many cubic feet of sand are in a ton?
About 20 cubic feet. Dry sand weighs roughly 100 lbs per cubic foot, so a 2,000 lb ton fills about 20 cubic feet, or 0.74 cubic yards.