Sand Calculator
Work out how much sand you need for a sandbox, paver base, or fill, in cubic yards, tons and bags, by sand type and depth. Pick the job and the sand, enter up to three areas and change the typical weight to your supplier's figure.
Your numbers
Blank starts at 6 in for a sandbox, 1 in for a paver bed and 4 in for fill.
A starting figure, not a published one. Loose sand settles, so add more if you will compact it or the ground is uneven.
Blank uses the typical weight for the sand above. Your supplier's figure for the load is better, and wet sand can weigh far more.
Starts at the common 50 lb bag, about 0.5 cu ft. Read the size on the bag you are buying.
The supplier's charge for the truck. Leave it empty if you collect it.
Sand to order
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- Weight
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The calculation runs in your browser and ParrotNotes does not store your numbers. They sit in the page address so you can bookmark or share the result.
How sand is estimated
Measure each area, work out its square feet, multiply by the depth and convert to cubic yards. Then the weight of the sand turns yards into tons, because some suppliers sell by the yard and others by the ton. A 6 × 6 ft sandbox at 6 in is 18 cubic feet, or 0.67 cubic yards; with a 5% allowance, 0.70. In play sand at 1.35 tons a yard that is 0.95 tons, or 38 bags of 50 lb.
A 10 × 20 ft paver bed at 1 in is 16.67 cubic feet, or 17.5 with the allowance: 0.65 cubic yards, 0.88 tons, 35 bags. The depth is what changes the answer most, so check it before you order.
How deep each job goes
Paver bedding: the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association's guide specification says a nominal 1 in, with concrete sand as the first preference and no mason sand or stone dust. Joint sand is a different product with a finer grading.
Sandbox: we found no standard. One home guide says around 6 in, and several online calculators say 6 to 12, so the page starts at 6. Treat that as a habit rather than a rule.
Under play equipment is a safety question, not a sandbox question. A US Consumer Product Safety Commission release says at least 9 in of sand, and only for equipment no more than 5 ft high. Check the current CPSC guidance for anything a child can fall from. Under a pool, follow the pool maker's instructions; this page leaves that job out because the right base depends on the pool.
Weight and coverage by sand type
The page's starting weights and what a ton covers at two depths. These are typical values rather than a standard: sand varies with its grading and above all how wet it is, so type your supplier's figure into the calculator when you have one.
| Sand | Tons per cu yd | Sq ft per ton at 1 in | Sq ft per ton at 6 in | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play sand | 1.35 | 240 | 40 | QUIKRETE bag: 50 lb per 0.5 cu ft |
| Fill sand, dry | 1.31 | 247 | 41 | Engineering ToolBox, dry: 97 lb per cu ft |
| Wet sand | 1.61 | 201 | 34 | Engineering ToolBox, wet: 119 lb per cu ft |
| Concrete sand | 1.35 | 240 | 40 | QUIKRETE All-Purpose bag: 50 lb per 0.5 cu ft |
| Masonry sand | 1.35 | 240 | 40 | One supplier: about 2,700 lb a yard |
Bags or bulk
A 50 lb bag is about half a cubic foot, so a cubic yard is about 54 bags and over 1 ton of lifting. Enter the bag price and then the supplier's price per yard or ton, add the delivery fee, and compare the delivered cost. Bags suit a small box or a place a truck cannot reach. Bulk usually wins as the job grows, but check the minimum order and the delivery fee where you are.
Sand delivered wet weighs more, so a price per ton can run higher than the dry figure suggests. A price per yard does not change with moisture.
How this differs from the gravel and landscape rock calculators
All three use the same maths. The gravel calculator is the general estimate for a driveway, a path or a base, and it treats sand as one material among six at one weight. The landscape rock calculator is for decorative stone in a bed. This page is only about sand: it separates dry, wet, play, concrete and masonry sand, starts at the depth for the job, tells you when a sand does not suit the job, and adds a delivery fee.
For hardscape contractors and supply reps: what to write down
On the walk-through, note each area's size, the job, the sand the client or the spec calls for, the base under it, how the truck gets in and how far it has to be barrowed. Read the yards and the delivered price back to the client before you leave.
Sources, read on 2026-11-04. The retailer and supplier listings come from search results, so treat those figures as typical:
- Engineering ToolBox, Dirt and Mud Densities: sand, dry, 97 lb per cubic foot; sand, wet, 119 lb per cubic foot
- Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association, Tech Note PAV-TEC-009: nominal 1 in bedding, concrete sand, no mason sand or stone dust
- US Consumer Product Safety Commission release, 2007: at least 9 in of sand, equipment no more than 5 ft high
- QUIKRETE Premium Play Sand, retailer listing: 50 lb, package yield 1/2 cubic foot
- QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand, retailer listing: 50 lb, about 0.5 cubic foot
- Hello Gravel, mason sand listing: about 2,700 lb a yard (supplier figure)
- My Backyard Life, a home blog: sandboxes around six inches deep (the weakest source here)
Related: the gravel calculator for driveways, paths and bases, the landscape rock calculator for decorative stone in a bed, and the paver calculator for the pavers on top of the bedding sand.
More for landscaping and building products sales: Landscaping sales, Building materials sales.
The area gets measured on the walk-through
The sizes, the job, what is under it and where the truck can tip all come up as you walk the site. The ParrotNotes app records and transcribes the visit and summarizes it, so the note matches what you walked.
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