Paver Sand Calculator

A 1 inch layer, which is about 0.083 cubic feet per square foot — so one cubic yard of sand covers roughly 325 square feet. On a 200 square foot patio that is around 0.6 cubic yards, or about 33 fifty-pound bags.

Bedding sand is plain coarse sand that goes under the pavers so you can level them. Polymeric sand contains binders that harden when wetted and goes in the joints between pavers, where it locks them together and resists weeds and ants. Using bedding sand in the joints means sweeping it back in every year.

No. Play sand is fine and rounded — the grains roll past each other under load instead of interlocking, so pavers set on it develop ruts and rocking within a season. Ask for concrete sand, bedding sand or ASTM C33 sand.

Measure the length and width in feet at the widest points and multiply them. For an irregular bed, break it into rectangles, circles and triangles, calculate each one separately and add the results together. Rounding up slightly is safer than rounding down.

Bulk is almost always cheaper per cubic yard once you need more than about 1 cubic yard — roughly 54 bags. Bags win when you need a small amount, have nowhere to dump a pile, or want to spread the job over several weekends.

A half-ton pickup can usually carry about 1 cubic yard of light material like mulch, but only around half a cubic yard of wet soil or gravel because of the weight. Check the weight figure above against your vehicle's payload rating before you load up.