Sand Calculator
Find how much sand you need in cubic yards, m³, tonnes or bags. Measure in feet or metres, then pick the kind of sand.
Measure your project
Your answer
That is 0.52 m³ and weighs about 0.92 tonnes. We added 10% extra.
If you buy bags
This is a guide. Under a slab or a play set, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
Which costs less?
This price is for picking it up yourself. Add a delivery fee in "Change prices" if they bring it.
Sand: $60 a cubic yard, the middle of 13 Canadian yards (Oct 2026). Pickup price, before delivery and tax. Fill sand costs less than bedding or mason sand. Bags of all-purpose sand: about $8.38 for 25 kg at Ontario stores (6 prices, 4 stores, Oct 2026). Before tax.
Quick answers
- Tonnes in a cubic metre
- About 1.78 tonnes of damp sand. A cubic yard holds about 1.36 tonnes.
- 25 kg bags in a yard
- 54 bags of 25 kg. Each bag holds half a cubic foot.
- Sand price
- Fill sand was $15–$30 a cubic yard (only 2 yards). Bedding or mason sand was $69–$100 (only 3 yards). Before tax.
- Pit price
- About $15 a tonne, the middle of 5 pits. You pick it up at the pit and truck it home yourself.
- 10 × 10 ft, 2 in deep
- About 0.62 cubic yards (0.47 m³). In bags, that is 34 of 25 kg.
How to work it out
- Work out the square feet: length times width, in feet.
- Multiply square feet by the inches of depth, and divide that by 324. The answer is the volume in cubic yards.
- For tonnes, multiply cubic yards by 1.36. In metric, multiply m³ by 1.78.
- For 25 kg bags, multiply cubic yards by 54. Round up.
10 × 10 × 2 ÷ 324 = 0.62 cubic yards
0.62 × 1.36 = 0.84 tonnes
0.62 × 54 = 33.3, so 34 bags
Which sand? Price by type
Canadian yards sell hydro, screened, washed and C33 coarse sand. You will also see brick, masonry, bedding, fill and beach sand. Pits sell coarse concrete sand by the tonne. Stores sell play sand and all-purpose sand in bags.
The $60 middle price mixes cheap fill sand with costly bedding sand. So pick your type first.
| Sand | Price | Yards |
|---|---|---|
| Fill sand | $15–$30 | 2 |
| Bedding, brick or mason sand | $69–$100 | 3 |
| All sand types | $15–$100, middle $60 | 13 |
Pickup, before tax. Fill sand: Manitoba and Saskatchewan only. Bedding sand: Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan only. Few yards, so ask locally.
What sand weighs
Sand from a yard is damp. We found 4 Canadian sources for its weight. They range from 1.27 to 1.5 tonnes a cubic yard. We use 1.36.
Buying by the tonne? A tonne of damp sand fills about 0.74 cubic yards (19.9 cubic feet).
Water adds weight. One BC yard lists dry sand at 2,600–3,000 lb a yard. Wet sand is 3,000–3,400 lb, up to 1.54 tonnes.
| Amount | Dry | Damp | Wet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cubic yard | 1.27 | 1.36 | 1.45 |
| 1 m³ | 1.66 | 1.78 | 1.90 |
| 5 cubic yards | 6.35 | 6.80 | 7.26 |
| 10 m³ | 16.61 | 17.79 | 18.98 |
Damp is our default. Dry and wet use the middle of one BC yard's ranges.
Sand in bags
Quikrete (Western Canada) says its 25 kg bag holds half a cubic foot. Ontario stores sell sand in 18, 20, 25 and 30 kg bags, so compare the price per kg.
| How you buy | Cost |
|---|---|
| Play sand, 54 bags of 25 kg | $632 |
| All-purpose sand, 54 bags of 25 kg | $453 |
| 1 cubic yard bag, delivered | $180 |
| Loose, at a landscape yard | $60 |
| Loose, at a pit (worked out) | $20.40 |
Before tax, Oct 2026. Bags: 4 Ontario stores. Big bags: 4 prices from 4 sellers. Yards: 13. Pits: 5.
Bags cost about 8 to 11 times the loose price. One seller's 1 cubic yard bag of play sand was $216.
Sand under slabs and play sets
A BC builders' guide (a 2017 draft) says sand is not fit under a floor slab by itself. It wants a gravel layer as well.
Quebec's home warranty sheet treats sand fill, such as MG-112, as fill that must be packed. Lay it in layers of 300 mm or less.
For play sets, BC's child-care rule (2007) names soft sand as a loose fill. It asks for 150 mm under sets up to 1.5 m, and 300 mm up to 2.3 m.
For a slab or a public play area, check your local building rules or ask a builder or engineer.
Questions people ask
How much sand is in 1 cubic yard?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, or 0.765 m³. That much damp sand weighs about 1.36 tonnes.
How many tonnes of sand are in a cubic metre?
About 1.78 tonnes of damp sand. Natural Resources Canada uses 1.77 for all sand, gravel and stone.
How much sand do I need?
Length × width in feet × depth in inches, divided by 324, gives cubic yards. A 10 × 10 ft area at 2 in needs about 0.62.
How many bags of sand make a yard?
54 bags of 25 kg (55 lb). Quikrete in Western Canada says each bag holds half a cubic foot. So a 50 lb bag holds about 0.45 cubic feet.
How much does a yard of sand cost in Canada?
It depends on the sand. Fill sand ran $15–$30 a yard, and bedding or mason sand $69–$100. Across 13 yards the middle was $60. The fill sand prices are from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
How many kg and lbs are in a yard of sand?
About 1,360 kg of damp sand, or about 3,000 lbs. Wet sand weighs more, and dry sand less.
How much sand do I need for levelling a lawn?
Clemson Extension says sand, compost or a mix can fill dips, ¼–½ in at a time. UW–Madison warns that plain sand unlike your soil can form a layer. At ¼ in, 1,000 sq ft takes about 0.77 cubic yards.
How many lbs of sand per gallon?
About 15 lbs of damp sand per US gallon (3.79 L). So 5 gallons weigh about 75 lbs.
Where our numbers come from
- Topdressing depth: Clemson Extension (HGIC)
- Top dressing a bumpy lawn: UW–Madison Extension
- Weights per cubic yard: Canadian yards and producers (few sources each)
- Gravel weight: Natural Resources Canada (1 cubic yard = 1.35 tonnes)
- Mulch depth and weights: West Coast Gardens (BC)
- Loose prices: the middle of up to 23 Canadian yards (Oct 2026)
- Pit prices per tonne: 3–5 Canadian pits (Oct 2026)
- 1 cubic yard bulk bags, delivered: 4 Canadian sellers per product (Garden Bag, Walmart.ca, RONA, Mygardenbag)
- Store prices: Ontario Home Depot, RONA, Home Hardware and Chamberlain Timber Mart (Oct 2026)
- Bag size: Quikrete Canada (Target Products), 25 kg = ½ cubic foot
- Quebec yards: bulk calculators (tonne, packing)
- Under-slab stone: BC builder's drainage guide (draft, 2017)
- Under-slab stone: Garantie GCR sheet FT-9.16.2.2-01 (Quebec)
- Playground depth: BC Director of Licensing, Safe Play Space (2007)
- Unit sizes: NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C (1 ft = 0.3048 m; 1 US gallon = 231 cubic inches)
- #57 stone extra: Palmetto Sand & Gravel (add 10%)
Made by BuildersCount. Last checked 4 Oct 2026.
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