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Sand Calculator

A sandbox, a paver bed, a fill — the short tons or bags to buy.

Material only — wet sand weighs more.

6' · 72 in · 6 ft · 1.8288 m

6' · 72 in · 6 ft · 1.8288 m

1' · 12 in · 1 ft · 0.3048 m

36 ft³

10% covers what is pressed into soft ground, spread past the edges and left in the truck bed or the bags. It is added once, to the weight and to the loose yards.

This page recalculates as you type. There is no Calculate button.

Answer

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Weight in short tons, with 10% waste

2.05 short tons (2,000 lb)

1.47 yd³ loose with 10% waste · 1.86 tonnes (1,000 kg) · 4,107 lb

Order 2.25 short tons (2,000 lb)
Weight in short tons, before waste 1.87 short tons (2,000 lb)
Tonnes, with 10% waste 1.86 tonnes (1,000 kg)
Loose, with 10% waste 1.47 yd³
Delivered, in quarter short ton steps 2.25 short tons (2,000 lb)
Or in bags 80 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³)
In place, cubic yards 1.333 yd³
In place, cubic feet 36 ft³
In place, cubic meters 1.019 m³
Weight, with 10% waste 4,107 lb
Ticked items cost $196.25
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Area 1: 6' × 6'.6'6'Area 1

Buying note4,107 lb is about 3 trips in a full-size pickup at ~1,500 lb a load, if you haul it yourself. Your truck's payload is on the driver's door-jamb sticker; type it under Assumptions.

Breakdown

Area Measurements Qty Volume in place Share
Area 1 6' × 6' × 1' Add ×1 36 ft³

What to buy

Buying note4,107 lb is about 3 trips in a full-size pickup at ~1,500 lb a load, if you haul it yourself. Your truck's payload is on the driver's door-jamb sticker; type it under Assumptions.

Ways to buy the bags

Bags of gravel, sand and paver base are sold by volume, 0.5 ft³ a bag; the count is the loose volume over that.

80 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³) Bags 80 Left over 0.4 ft³ Weight 4,000 lb Cost $438.40 Reference price $5.48. Type your store's.

Shopping list

2.25 short tons (2,000 lb) $196.25
1 rolls $24.00 Reference price $0.12. Type your store's.
Ticked items $196.25

Untick what you already have. A delivered load's price includes the delivery fee you type below.

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Bags or a delivered load

Bags $438.40
Delivered $196.25 order 2.25 short tons (2,000 lb)

The delivered load is $242.15 cheaper.

From 0.75 short tons (2,000 lb) up, a delivered load costs less than bags.

Reference price $45.00. Type your store's. Reference price $95.00. Type your store's.

Every supplier rounds, sets a minimum and charges for small loads its own way. Ask before you order.

How this was worked out

Every number below is yours. Each constant links to the row where you can change it.

Area 1 6' × 6' × 1' 36 ft³
All areas 36 ft³ ÷ 27 1.333 yd³ · 1.019 m³
Weight 1.333 yd³ × 1.4 short tons a yard, loose 1.867 short tons (2,000 lb)

Change:Sand, loose

Plus waste 1.867 short tons (2,000 lb) × (1 + 10%) 2.053 short tons (2,000 lb) · 1.863 tonnes (1,000 kg)
Loose, to order 1.333 yd³ × (1 + 10%) 1.467 yd³
Bags 39.6 ft³ ÷ 0.5 ft³ a bag 80 × 50 lb bags (0.5 ft³) · 0.4 ft³ left over

Change:Yield, 50 lb gravel bag

Delivered 2.053 short tons (2,000 lb) → quarter short ton 2.25 short tons (2,000 lb)
Cost 2.25 short tons (2,000 lb) × $45.00 + $95.00 $196.25

Assumptions

Every one of these is editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

Assumption Value Confidence
Sand, looseMinnesota PCA stormwater material conversions: clean sand about 1.4 short tons per yd³. MoDOT's loose sand, 97-110 lb/ft³, agrees. short ton/yd³ From a data sheet or an agency document
Yield, 50 lb gravel bag0.5 ft³ per 50 lb bag. Sand, which the sand page buys in the same bag: Sakrete Play Sand (data sheet REV 3-10) and Sakrete's commercial sands (Rev. 06/16) yield 0.5 ft³, Quikrete Premium Play Sand is labeled 'approx 1/2 cu. ft.'; mason sand runs larger, 0.6 ft³ (Sakrete, Rev. 04/16). Gravel: Quikrete All-Purpose Gravel as retailers list it. ~ ft³/bag Derived or single-supplier
Where a delivered load starts to payAbout where bags stop making sense: 54 bags of 0.5 ft³, some 2,700 lb. Chosen, not sourced. ~ yd³ Derived or single-supplier
Your truck's payloadFull-size (1500-series) pickups advertise 2,260-2,440 lb of payload (2026), and ordinary trims carry 600-700 lb less; this is the low end. Your truck's figure is on the driver's door-jamb placard. ~ lb Derived or single-supplier
Fabric overlap between stripsNRCS Construction Specification 95, Geotextile (national 210-VI-NIH, May 2001): panels joined without sewing overlap at least 18 in unless otherwise specified. in From a data sheet or an agency document

How much sand you need

Area × depth gives the volume, sand's weight turns it into short tons, and 10% for waste goes on once. A sandbox 6 feet square and 12 inches deep is 6 × 6 × 1 = 36 cubic feet, or 1.33 cubic yards. Clean sand weighs about 1.4 short tons a yard, so the box holds 1.87 short tons; with waste you order 2.05 short tons — 4,107 lb, or 1.86 tonnes — which a yard rounds up to 2¼. In 50 lb bags of 0.5 cubic feet the same box is 80 bags.

Sand is weighed loose here, and the page asks nothing about compacting it. Under pavers it is screeded flat, not packed; in a sandbox or a play area it is raked. The depth you type is the depth you spread, and the waste covers what settles when it is first watered or walked on, what blows away and what stays in the bags.

What a yard of sand weighs

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's material conversions put clean sand at about 1.4 short tons a cubic yard, and the Missouri DOT tables give loose sand at 97 to 110 lb a cubic foot, 1.31 to 1.49 short tons a yard, which agrees. Wet sand weighs more, because the water does; the figure is a box under Assumptions, so type your supplier's if you have it. A cubic yard in place is 1.4 short tons, 2,800 lb or 1.27 tonnes.

A short ton is 2,000 lb, which is what a US yard means by its price "per ton"; a tonne is 1,000 kg, about 10% heavier. The page prints both side by side so the two are never confused.

Common jobs

Job Size With 10% waste
Sandbox6 × 6 ft, 12 in2.05 short tons, 80 bags
Bedding under pavers12 × 12 ft, 1 in0.68 short tons, 27 bags
One cubic yard3 × 9 ft, 12 in1.54 short tons, 60 bags

Paver bedding is a thin layer over a compacted base of crusher run; the base is its own job, worked out on the gravel calculator with the stone switched to crusher run.

Bags or a delivered load

Play sand and all-purpose sand come in 50 lb bags, about half a cubic foot each, so a cubic yard is 54 bags. A small bedding job is a trunkful; the sandbox above is 80 bags and about 4,000 lb, three trips in a full-size pickup at the 1,500 lb payload we assume. From about a cubic yard a delivered load is usually less work. Type your store's bag price, the yard's price per short ton or per cubic yard and its delivery fee in the comparison under the shopping list to see which costs less. Bag and delivered prices start at dated reference estimates; delivered prices vary by region, so type your yard's. We are not connected with any store or supplier named here.