A sand calculator is the aggregate calculation with a lighter, finer material and a thinner layer: a bedding course under pavers or a slab, a leveling layer over a base, the sand in a mortar or a concrete mix batched on site. The yards are geometry, length times width times depth in feet divided by 27; the tons are the yards times the weight per loose yard the supplier states for that sand, and sand's weight moves with moisture more than gravel's does. This page works the bedding layer on a 30 by 20 foot pad, converts yards and tons both ways, and says what changes when the sand is going into a mix rather than under a slab. The free concrete calculator on this site works the slab that follows, with no account.
Cubic yards of sand from the area and the depth
Cubic yards equals length times width times depth, in feet, divided by 27. Bedding layers are thin, so the inches matter: 1 inch is 0.083 feet, 2 inches is 0.167 feet. A 30 by 20 foot pad, 600 square feet, at a 2-inch bedding course is 600 times 0.167, 100 cubic feet, 3.7 cubic yards; at 1 inch it is 1.85 yards. Sand screeded to a depth settles little compared with a crusher run, so the compaction allowance is small, but the spill and the low spots in the base below it are not, and a contractor's own allowance of around 10% is what the calculator on this site applies by default to the slab above.
How many yards of sand in a ton, and tons of sand in a yard
Tons of sand in a yard is the supplier's stated weight per loose yard, which for a damp masonry or concrete sand commonly sits around 1.3 tons, more when wet. Yards of sand in a ton is one divided by that: at 1.3 tons per yard, 0.77 yards. On the worked bedding course, 3.7 yards at 1.3 tons per yard is 4.8 tons; a five-ton delivery covers it with a little spare. Because moisture changes sand's weight by a noticeable share, a ton of wet sand is fewer dry yards than a ton of the same sand delivered dry; order by the yard where the supplier sells that way, and by the ton with the supplier's own figure otherwise.
Sand in a mix: the ratio, not the layer
When the sand is going into a concrete or mortar batched on site, the sand calculator becomes the mix ratio: the parts of cement, sand and stone per batch, and the number of batches the pour needs. A 1:2:3 concrete by volume is one part cement to two of sand to three of stone, and the sand for a yard of that mix is two sixths of the yard's dry volume, more the loose material than the finished concrete because mixing fills the voids. The American Concrete Institute and the Portland Cement Association publish the specifications a mix is ordered against; the site batch is worked from the ratio the contractor chooses and the yield they get from it.
From the bedding layer to the slab and the estimate
The sand, the base and the slab share the pad's dimensions and are worked from one measurement at three depths: on the example, a 2-inch sand course at 3.7 yards, a 6-inch base at 11.1 yards of crusher run, and a 6-inch slab at 11.1 yards of concrete before waste. The free concrete calculator on this site works the slab and takes the supplier's price per yard; the other two are the same geometry at their depths. All three are lines in the estimate at the supplier's prices, and the slab's value carries to the schedule of values when the work is billed, so the sum is done once and reused.
Questions people ask about sand calculator
How does a sand calculator work?
Length times width times depth, in feet, divided by 27 gives cubic yards; yards times the supplier's weight per loose yard gives tons. A 30 by 20 foot bedding layer at 2 inches is 3.7 yards, about 4.8 tons at 1.3 tons per yard.
How many tons of sand are in a yard?
The supplier's stated weight, commonly around 1.3 tons for a damp masonry or concrete sand and more when wet. Yards in a ton is one divided by that figure: about 0.77 yards at 1.3.
Does the sand calculator cover sand for a concrete mix?
For a site batch the calculation is the mix ratio: the parts of sand per batch and the batches the pour needs. The layer calculation is for bedding and leveling courses under a slab or pavers.