Sand Calculator

Calculate sand for rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, trapezoids, borders, and known areas. Add multiple sections and sum them into one total. The core formulas are Cubic Feet = Length × Width × (Depth in inches ÷ 12) and Cubic Yards = Cubic Feet ÷ 27.

Built-in presets: 1 inch for paver bedding (CMHA standard), 2 inches for above-ground pool base, and 12 inches for sandboxes. One cubic yard covers 324 sq ft at 1", 162 sq ft at 2", 108 sq ft at 3", and 81 sq ft at 4".

Get results in cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic meters, and short tons. Dry sand runs about 100 lb/ft³ (2,700 lb or 1.35 tons per cubic yard), while wet sand is about 120 lb/ft³. Convert the same volume into 50 lb, 60 lb, and 80 lb bags — a cubic yard equals 54 fifty-pound bags, 45 sixty-pound bags, or 36 eighty-pound bags.

Add a customizable compaction buffer: 5–10% for paver base layers that get tamped, and 5–10% overall for uneven ground, spillage, and settling. Loose sand compacts by roughly 10–15%, so ordering 10% extra avoids a second delivery trip.

Enter your bulk price per ton or cubic yard, or bag price, to get an instant project cost. Compare bulk delivery against bagged retail side by side. In 2026, bulk sand runs about $15–$40 per ton ($23–$60 per cubic yard) delivered, while bagged sand is $4–$8 per 50 lb bag.

Work in feet, inches, yards, meters, and centimeters. Get output in cubic yards, cubic feet, cubic meters, liters, short tons, and bags. All calculations, coverage figures, compaction buffers, and cost estimates update automatically. Fully functional offline.