Paver sand calculator for Delaware

For a 300-square-foot patio, expect around 1.25 tons of bedding sand, while the joints need only 4-8 bags. They are both sand, but the amounts differ by roughly twenty times. The calculator below figures the 1 inch coarse-sand bedding layer using 1.35 tons per cubic yard. The chart beneath covers joint-fill bags, including polymeric coverage for a 50 lb bag.

Two separate calculations

1. For bedding, measure the paved area with the base's 6-inch overhang included and use exactly 1 inch of sand. A deeper layer can let pavers shift and wobble later.
2. Figure joint material by bags, not tons. For standard 1/8 to 1/4 inch joints, allow one 50 lb bag for each 40-75 square feet.

Bagged joint sand

Paver thickness and joint width change the coverage, so use the bag label as your guide and round upward. Save any remaining sand for when the joints settle a quarter inch after their first wash-in.

Bedding rules for the wheelbarrow

• Set the bedding at 1 inch, screed it using rails or pipes, and fill the channels as each paver goes down.
• Choose coarse, angular mason or concrete-grade sand for both the bed and the joints. Rounded play sand can shift when it carries weight.
• Leave the sand bed uncompacted before setting the pavers. Compacting the completed paver surface is what settles them into the bedding.
• Stay off the screeded layer. Work forward from the pavers already laid.
• Screenings create a somewhat firmer setting layer, though they allow less correction while leveling than sand does. Use the same material throughout the surface.

Plain versus polymeric joint sand

Once watered, polymeric sand sets up and helps joints resist weeds, ants, and rain. It is priced several times higher per bag, needs to be applied fully dry, and a mist at the wrong time can spoil the entire application. Fine plain mason sand is low-cost and quick to work into joints, but plan to add more every season or two. Use polymeric for driveway, sloped, or heavily traveled pavers. For a level garden path, mason sand works well. Under the pavers, use ordinary coarse sand in either case, because polymeric sand is only for joints.

The joint-sand upkeep schedule

Rain, ants, and leaf blowers carry joint sand away. Plan to add plain mason sand every year or two, while polymeric can last 5-10 years before the joint edges begin opening. Apply it when conditions are dry, compact it, then mist it. Keep the leaf blower on a lower setting near filled joints. A nozzle can remove a surprising amount of patio sand over the course of an autumn.

Example: a 20 x 15 patio

For bedding, plan on about 320 square feet including overhang. A 1 inch layer takes 27 cubic feet, or 1 cubic yard and 1.35 tons. Order 1.5 tons of mason sand. For joints, 300 square feet with standard joints takes 4-8 bags of polymeric sand or 2-3 bags of mason sand. Beneath both is a 4-plus ton crusher run base, with sizing from the Paver Base Calculator. Cover the sand pile at the site: damp-to-dry material screeds cleanly, while soaked sand will not.

Bedding and joint sand guide

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