Paver sand calculator for North Dakota

A 300-square-foot patio uses roughly 1.25 tons of bedding material, but the joints need only 4-8 bags. These are separate sand applications with very different quantities. Use the calculator below for a 1 inch coarse-sand bed, calculated at 1.35 tons per cubic yard. Then use the chart below that for joint-fill bags, including polymeric sand coverage for a 50 lb bag.

Two sand calculations

1. For bedding, include the paved surface and the base's 6-inch extension, then use exactly 1 inch of depth. A deeper sand layer can leave pavers rocking later.
2. For joints, forget tonnage and calculate bags. With typical 1/8 to 1/4 inch joints, one 50 lb bag covers 40-75 square feet.

Bags for joint sand

Joint width and paver thickness change the coverage, so follow the bag label and round upward. Keep extra material for the first wash-in, when joints can settle by a quarter inch.

Paver bedding basics

• Use one inch, screed it across pipes or rails, and fill the grooves while setting pavers.
• Choose coarse, angular sand, either concrete-grade or mason sand. Rounded play sand can shift under load in the bed and in the joints.
• Leave the bedding uncompacted until the pavers are in place. Compacting the completed surface seats the pavers into the sand.
• Stay off the screeded sand. Set pavers from the installed surface as you work forward.
• Screenings create a firmer setting layer than sand, though leveling leaves less room for correction. Use the same material throughout the surface.

Plain sand or polymeric sand

Once wetted, polymeric sand sets up in the joints to help limit weeds, ants, and rain washout. It costs several times more per bag, needs a fully dry installation, and rain at the wrong time can spoil the entire application. Fine mason sand is low-cost, quick to sweep into place, and needs another fill every season or two. Choose polymeric for driveways, slopes, and heavily traveled pavers. Fine mason sand works for a level garden path. Beneath either joint option, install plain coarse sand for bedding. Polymeric material is for joints only.

When to re-sand paver joints

Rain, ants, and leaf blowers can pull material from paver joints. Plan to refill plain mason sand every year or two. Polymeric sand may last 5-10 years before the joint edges start separating. Fill and compact the joints on a dry day, then mist them. Use a low leaf-blower setting around filled joints.

Example: a 20 x 15 patio

For bedding, include the overhang and allow about 320 square feet. A 1 inch layer needs 27 cubic feet, equal to 1 cubic yard or 1.35 tons. Order 1.5 tons of mason sand. For 300 square feet of standard joints, allow 4-8 bags of polymeric sand or 2-3 bags of mason sand. Both layers need a crusher run base of 4-plus tons, sized with the Paver Base Calculator. Keep the on-site sand pile under a tarp. Sand that is damp-to-dry screeds cleanly, while soaked material does not.

Choosing bedding and joint sand

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