Paver Sand Calculator
A patio needs two sands doing two different jobs. One goes under the pavers, one goes between them, and they’re bought in completely different units. So this paver sand calculator works out both: bedding by the ton, polymeric by the bag.
Your result
What to order
1 tons of bedding sand and 3 bags of polymeric sand for 240 sq ft of standard pavers
Two different products from two different aisles. The bedding sand comes loose by the ton, the polymeric in sealed bags.
- Bedding sand
- 0.74 yd³ at the fixed 1 in course, which is 1 tons. That is $45 at $45 a ton.
- Polymeric sand
- 3 bags at 100 sq ft each, so $90 at $30 a bag. Coverage per bag drops fast as joints widen, which is why the paver type matters more than the area does.
- Buy the polymeric last
- It has to go down dry and then be watered in, so a wet forecast means leaving the joints open. The bedding sand can go in whenever the base is ready.
- How this is worked out
- 240 sq ft × 1" ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = 0.74 yd³ × 2,700 lb ÷ 2,000 = 1 tons. Bags: 240 ÷ 100 = 3
What is paver sand?
Paver sand is really two products sharing a name. Bedding sand is coarse, angular and washed, and it goes under the pavers as a thin setting layer. Polymeric sand is fine sand with a binder mixed through it, and it goes into the joints once everything is laid.
The binder is what makes polymeric different. Sweep it in dry, mist it with water, and it sets into something firm enough to stop weeds seeding and ants tunnelling. Plain sand in the joints washes out within a season or two.
They’re worth working out separately because they’re bought differently. Bedding sand comes loose by the ton from a yard. Polymeric comes in sealed bags from a hardware store, at roughly ten times the price per pound. Treat them as one number and you’ll get both wrong.
How much paver sand do you need
For bedding: square feet × 1 inch ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = cubic yards. A 240 sq ft patio comes to 0.74 cubic yards, which is about 1 tons. That number scales straight with area and nothing else.
For the joints it works differently. You divide the area by whatever coverage the bag states, and that coverage changes with joint width. The same 240 sq ft patio needs 3 bags in standard pavers and 10 in flagstone.
So the patio size tells you the bedding and almost nothing about the bags. If you’re pricing a job before choosing pavers, price the bedding accurately and treat the polymeric as a range until the style is settled.
Paver sand coverage: how much a yard covers
One cubic yard of bedding sand covers 324 sq ft at the one inch depth it should be laid at. That is the only coverage figure you need for the setting course, because the depth never changes.
| Patio | Cubic yards | Tons |
|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 0.31 | 0.4 |
| 200 sq ft | 0.62 | 0.8 |
| 400 sq ft | 1.23 | 1.7 |
| 800 sq ft | 2.47 | 3.3 |
Read down and the pattern is simple: roughly 0.42 tons per hundred square feet. Most residential patios land between half a ton and two, which is well under a minimum delivery, so bedding sand is often collected rather than delivered.
Paver sand weight and tons per yard, and what a pickup can take
About 2,700 lb a cubic yard, which is 1.35 tons. Bedding sand is coarse and washed, so it sits at the heavy end of the sands, and a yard of it is more than a half-ton pickup should legally carry.
That catches people out because a yard of bedding sand looks like nothing. A patio needs such a thin layer that the pile in the yard seems trivially small, right up until it’s in the truck and the suspension is sitting on the bump stops.
Polymeric is a different problem. It comes in 50 lb bags, so a big patio is a pallet, and pallets don’t fit in a car. Work out the bag count before you go, because turning up for six bags and needing fourteen means a second trip.
How many bags of paver sand in a yard
A cubic yard is about 54 bags at 50 lb each, if you were buying bedding sand in sacks. Almost nobody does, because bulk is a fraction of the price once you need more than a few.
| Paver type | Joint width | Sq ft per bag | Bags per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard pavers | 0.125" | 100 | 1 |
| Wide joint pavers | 0.25" | 70 | 1.4 |
| Flagstone | 0.75" | 25 | 4 |
| Large format slabs | 0.125" | 120 | 0.8 |
Look at the spread in that last column. Flagstone eats nearly five times the joint sand of large-format slabs over the same ground, and neither patio looks bigger than the other. Joint width is doing all the work.
Round up and buy one spare. A joint filled three quarters of the way is a joint that fails, and the bags are cheap next to lifting pavers to redo it.
What paver sand costs
Bedding sand runs $35 to $60 a ton collected. Polymeric runs $25 to $40 for a 50 lb bag. Per pound, the polymeric is roughly ten times the price, and on many patios it is the larger of the two bills.
On our 240 sq ft example that’s about $45 of bedding against $90 of polymeric. In flagstone the joint sand alone would be $300, which is more than the pavers cost on some jobs.
You can use plain sand in the joints and save all of that. Plenty of patios are laid that way. It washes out in heavy rain, weeds seed in the gaps and ants tunnel underneath, so you sweep more in every year or two. Whether that trade is worth it depends on how much you enjoy sweeping.
How to use this paver sand calculator
Measure the patio and enter it as one shape, or several if it wraps around a corner. Then pick the paver style, because that sets the bag coverage. The bedding figure appears straight away; it only depends on area.
If you already know your bag’s stated coverage, use the paver type whose figure sits closest. Manufacturers differ, and Dominator, Sakrete and Techniseal all print slightly different numbers for the same joint width. The bag in your hand wins over any table.
One last thing on sequencing. Bedding sand goes down whenever the base is ready. Polymeric goes in last, on a dry day, with rain out of the forecast for at least 24 hours. It has to be swept in dry and then watered deliberately, and a shower halfway through that sets it in a hard crust on top of the pavers instead of inside the joints.
Paver sand questions
How much polymeric sand do I need?
Work from coverage per bag, not from area alone. A 50 lb bag does about 100 sq ft of standard pavers with tight joints, but only 25 sq ft of flagstone. So a 240 sq ft patio takes 3 bags in pavers and 10 in flagstone.
How much paver sand do I need?
For bedding, one inch across the whole area and no more. A 240 sq ft patio is 0.74 cubic yards, which is about 1 tons. That figure never changes with paver type, because the bedding course sits under all of them equally.
How much sand under pavers?
One inch, screeded flat. That is the whole answer and it is not negotiable. The sand seats the paver; it does not level the base. Any deeper and you have created a layer that can shift under load, which is how a patio goes wavy in its second year.
How much is polymeric sand?
About $25 to $40 for a 50 lb bag, which is several times the price of plain sand. You are paying for the binder that sets when wetted. On a 240 sq ft patio the joint sand often costs more than the bedding sand underneath it.
How much sand for pavers?
Two separate amounts. Bedding sand by the ton, at one inch across the area. Joint sand by the bag, set by how wide your joints are. Adding them together into one number is the most common mistake, and it leaves you short on the bags.
Can you use play sand for pavers?
No. Play sand is fine and rounded, which is exactly wrong here. Rounded grains roll rather than lock, so the bedding course shifts under load. Use coarse concrete or bedding sand, which is angular and compacts to something that stays put.
How much paver sand?
About 1 tons of bedding for a 240 sq ft patio, plus 3 bags of polymeric on top. Scale the bedding straight with area. The bags scale with joint width instead, which is why the paver you chose matters more than the size of the patio.
How much polymeric sand for pavers?
Divide your area by the coverage on the bag. Standard pavers with 1/8 inch joints get around 100 sq ft a bag. Wide joints drop that to 70, and flagstone to 25. Buy one spare bag, because a part-filled joint fails first.