Sand Calculator
Estimate the sand volume, weight and cost for an area and depth.
Metric and imperial units, nine area units, and twenty currencies.
Updated October 24, 2026
What the sand calculator works out
Sand is often ordered by the cubic metre or the cubic yard and often priced by the tonne, and those two measures only agree when you know the bulk density. This page takes the area you want to cover, the depth of the layer and that density, and returns the volume of sand to buy, the weight of that volume, and what it costs.
It suits a paver bedding layer, a sandpit, a raised bed, a trench backfill or any loose sand that has to be ordered rather than guessed. Lengths, widths and depths can be entered in metric, imperial or a mixed reading such as three feet six inches, and the three money boxes can each use a different currency.
Ten quantities are linked on the page: length, width, area, depth, volume, density, weight, the price per weight, the price per volume and the total cost. Fill in the ones you know and the rest follow. The density is the one number you always supply yourself, because it belongs to the material rather than to the job.
1,601.948 kg/m³
The dry-sand density the page opens with
Six measures linked
Length, width, area, depth, volume and weight
20 currencies
For both price boxes and the total cost
If the sand is going into mortar rather than into a loose layer, the Brick Calculator is the better starting point: it works back from the wall to the cement and sand the mortar needs.
How to use it
Measure the surface you are covering
Enter the length and width of a rectangle, or leave both empty and type the area straight into the area box. The direct route is the one for a bed that is not rectangular: measure its area once, type it in, and the page still needs a depth. If you enter all three, keep them consistent: the last one you type is the one kept, and one of the others is recalculated to match.
Enter the depth of the sand layer
The depth is the finished thickness of sand, not the depth of the excavation under it. A paver bedding layer is a few centimetres; a sandpit or a raised bed is measured in tens of centimetres. The page assumes one thickness across the whole area, so measure the depth where the sand actually has to end up.
Check the bulk density
The page opens at 1,601.948 kg/m³, which is dry sand at roughly 100 lb/cu ft. Replace it with your supplier's figure or with a density you have measured. The bulk density section below explains what happens when damp, compacted or unusual sand is involved, and why this number changes the weight and the cost but never the volume.
Read the volume, then the weight
The volume is what fills the hole or the bed, and it is the figure to compare against a price per cubic metre or per cubic yard. The weight is what that volume of sand actually weighs, and it is the figure for bag counts, pallet limits and what a trailer or truck is allowed to carry.
Add a price or a budget
Enter whichever price the supplier quotes: per metric ton, kilogram or pound, or per cubic metre, yard or foot. The other price fills in through the density, and the total cost follows. Working from the other end also works: type a budget into the total cost and, with a price in place, the page works back to the weight and the volume that budget buys, and to the area once a depth is in place.
Work through a patio bedding layer
A patio area 4 m long and 5 m wide needs a 4 cm bedding layer of dry sand, and the merchant quotes 45 USD per metric ton.
The page returns 20 m² of area, 0.8 m³ of sand, 1.2815584 t of weight — 1,281.5584 kg — and 57.67 USD for the load at that price, with the price per cubic metre filled in as 72.08766 USD.
What to do with each number
Use the volume to compare quotes per cubic metre or per cubic yard: 0.8 m³ is about 1.05 cubic yards. Use the weight for bags and for the vehicle: at 1,281.5584 kg, a 25 kg bag count works out at just over 51 bags, so 52 bags covers it. The cost is the load at the quoted price, before delivery and tax.
Calculation method
The page is a chain of five plain products. Because every step is a product, any factor in it can be recovered from the others, which is why typing a value into a result box changes what the page solves for.
The chain from a rectangle to a price
Every direction is available
Because each statement is a product, the page can solve it in either direction. Type a measured weight and the volume gives way; type an area and the nearest side follows; type a total cost with a price in place and the weight, volume and area it buys are filled in. The direction is taken from the boxes you filled in last, so the figure you are working on stays as you typed it and the others adjust around it.
The density is a property, not an answer
Of those equations, the one worth knowing about is the weight: it can be rearranged for the volume, but not for the density. Density describes the material you are buying, so the page treats it as something you own rather than something it should solve. Type a weight and the volume is recalculated; the density box keeps the value you put in it. That is deliberate — a density that moved on its own would quietly change what your order means.
Units are converted before anything multiplies
Every measure is brought to a single base unit first — metres, square metres, cubic metres, kilograms and kilograms per cubic metre — and the arithmetic runs on those. That is why a length in feet and inches, a depth in centimetres and a price per cubic yard can sit in the same job. The conversions are exact definitions:
| Unit | Equivalent in the base unit |
|---|---|
| 1 inch | 0.0254 m |
| 1 foot | 0.3048 m |
| 1 square foot | 0.09290304 m² |
| 1 acre | 4,046.8564224 m² |
| 1 soccer field | 7,140 m² (a full-size pitch) |
| 1 cubic foot | 0.028316846592 m³ |
| 1 cubic yard | 0.764554857984 m³ |
| 1 pound | 0.45359237 kg |
| 1 US short ton | 907.18474 kg |
| 1 pound per cubic foot | ≈ 16.01846337 kg/m³ |
| 1 gram per cubic centimetre | 1,000 kg/m³ |
Currency is converted at the current rate
Each money box has its own currency, and a price can be quoted in one currency while the total is read in another. The entered price is converted to a common base before the multiplication and the total is converted back into the currency of its own menu, so comparing a quote in one currency with a budget in another needs no separate step. The rate is a live market rate; a contract rate or a card fee will differ slightly from it.
Choosing a bulk density
The bulk density is the mass of a loose volume of sand, air between the grains included. It is not the density of the solid mineral: a cubic metre of dry sand weighs about 1,600 kg because a large part of that cubic metre is air between the grains.
A density can be entered in whichever unit it is quoted in, without converting it by hand first:
| What you have | How to enter it |
|---|---|
| A bulk density in kg/m³, such as 1,550 kg/m³ | Type 1550; kg/m³ is the unit the row opens on |
| A density in lb/cu ft, such as 100 lb/cu ft | Type 100 and set the row to lb/cu ft |
| A density in g/cm³, such as 1.6 g/cm³ | Type 1.6 and set the row to g/cm³ |
| A specific gravity, such as 1.6 (a ratio, no units) | Type 1,600 in kg/m³: a ratio of 1.6 is 1,600 kg/m³ |
Wet and compacted sand weigh more for the same volume
Water fills the gaps between the grains, and compacting squeezes air out of them. In both cases the same volume of sand carries more mass, so a wet or compacted load can easily weigh more than the dry-sand preset suggests. If the sand arrives damp, or if it will be compacted after delivery, enter the density your supplier works with rather than the default.
A density outside 400–3,500 kg/m³ is flagged, not stopped
The page marks a density outside that band with a warning, because the usual cause is a unit slip: a specific gravity typed into a kg/m³ box, or a g/cm³ figure entered as if it were kg/m³. The number you typed is kept and the calculation still runs, so you can see what the rest of the job does with it. An unusual material may legitimately sit outside that band, and the warning is only a flag.
One rule of thumb is worth keeping: a density error moves the weight and the cost, but never the volume. If the volume is 3 m³ and the density is 10% too low, the order is still 3 m³ of sand, but the weight and the cost come out 10% short. So check which measure you are about to order before you correct the density.
Real-world examples
The patio example above uses a price per ton. These two use the page differently: one is a deeper fill, and one is priced by the cubic metre.
A sandpit for a play area
A square sandpit 1.8 m by 1.8 m, filled to 30 cm. Two sides are enough for the area, and the depth goes in centimetres:
That is 0.972 m³ and about 1,557 kg, or 1.557 t. Sold in 25 kg bags, the weight works out at just over 62 bags, so 63 bags fill it. If the sand should finish below the rim, enter a depth smaller than the wall height — the page fills whatever depth you give it and does not know about the rim.
A round pit works the same way once you have its area: measure the diameter, halve it for the radius, work out , and type that area straight into the area box. If the excavation is a cylinder, cone or another shape where working out the area is the awkward part, the Cubic Yard Calculator takes the shape directly.
A bedding layer priced by the cubic metre
A 10 m by 6 m area at 5 cm deep, with the supplier quoting 55 USD per cubic metre.
The load is 3 m³, about 3.92 cubic yards, and weighs 4,805.844 kg (4.805844 t) at the dry-sand preset. The same price of 55 USD per cubic metre is 34.33 USD per metric ton, which the page fills in as the price per weight. That is the number to compare against a second supplier who quotes by the ton, and it is where most of the surprise in a sand quote sits.
Measuring and ordering tips
Measure the depth where it matters
On uneven ground, a level finished surface needs a different sand thickness at each point. Measure at several places and decide which depth the finished surface needs: the average suits a screeded layer, while filling a dip needs the deeper figure over that part of the area.
Add your own margin, deliberately
The page returns the exact volume for the area and depth you give it, and it has no waste box. Spillage, settlement and trimming are yours to decide: agree a margin with your supplier and add it before you order rather than after the load arrives.
Convert only when you have to
At the dry-sand preset, one tonne is about 0.624 m³ and one cubic metre is 1.601948 t. A 25 kg bag holds roughly 0.0156 m³. If the supplier quotes in cubic yards, enter the volume in cubic yards and the weight result still follows.
Check the vehicle before the price
The weight is the load the road has to carry, and it is easy to exceed a trailer limit with a modest-looking volume: 3 m³ of dry sand is nearly 4.8 t. Check the payload first, then decide whether the load has to be split.
Compare quotes on one measure
Put a per-ton quote in the price per weight and read the price per volume, or the reverse. The two figures are the same price seen through the density; the price you typed last is the one kept, and the other is recalculated around it.
Sand over a gravel base
A paver finish usually sits on a compacted gravel base with the sand as a thin bedding layer on top. Size the base separately — the Gravel Calculator uses the same area and depth logic with a gravel density, so the two figures share the same surface measurement.
Limitations
- The result is an estimate. The bulk density of the sand you actually receive varies with moisture, compaction, grading and supplier, so replace the preset with the supplier's figure when you have one.
- The page assumes a level, uniform layer over the area you enter, with no allowance for settlement, loss or an uneven subgrade. It has no waste or contingency field; decide that margin yourself.
- The total cost is shown to two decimals, and the price boxes, volume and weight may be rounded for reading. Order in the units the supplier sells in — whole bags, a whole load, a rounded tonne figure — and treat the numbers here as the figure to round from.
- Prices cover the sand only. Delivery, tax, minimum-load charges and the premium that bagged sand carries over bulk sand are not included, and a converted currency figure will differ slightly from the invoice.
- Every box needs a positive number. Zero or a negative value is marked rather than calculated, because an empty layer is not an order.
- This is a quantity and cost estimate, not a construction specification. Bedding and sub-base depths, drainage, edge restraint, slopes and bearing requirements come from the project drawings and a qualified professional.
- For a playground, the depth required for fall protection is set by the playground safety standards and the equipment manufacturer. This page only does the arithmetic for the depth you enter; it does not check impact attenuation.
Frequently asked questions
How many bags of sand are in a tonne?
Divide 1,000 kg by the bag size. A 25 kg bag works out at 40 bags to the tonne, and at the dry-sand preset those 40 bags hold about 0.624 m³, which is roughly 0.82 cubic yards. Bags are sized by weight, not volume, so a heavier sand needs more bags for the same cubic metre.
What does a cubic yard of sand weigh?
One cubic yard is 0.764554857984 m³. Multiply that by the bulk density: at the preset density the answer is about 1,224.8 kg, or 1.22 metric tons. A wet or compacted cubic yard is heavier, and a supplier's own density will move the figure in proportion.
Can I mix metric and imperial measurements in one job?
Yes. Length, width, depth, area, volume, weight and the two prices each convert on their own, so a length in feet and inches, a depth in centimetres and a price per cubic yard produce one consistent answer. The values are brought to a common base before they meet, so the result does not depend on which row uses which unit.
Can I use it for gravel, topsoil or play sand?
The arithmetic works for any loose material, because all it needs is a volume and a bulk density. Enter that material's density in the density box and the volume, weight and cost follow. What changes is the preset and the plausibility warning: the page opens on a sand density and flags values outside the range sand is expected to fall in, so a material far outside it will carry a warning even when the density is right.
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