Paver sand calculator for Montana
Bedding is sold by tons, while joint fill comes in bags. They are separate sand uses often confused as one.
Enter your project dimensions
For a 300-square-foot patio, bedding takes about 1.25 tons, while the joints need just 4-8 bags. Though both are called sand, they do separate work and use quantities that are far apart. The calculator below calculates the bedding course at exactly 1 inch of coarse sand, using 1.35 tons per cubic yard. Use the chart below that for joint material, including polymeric coverage for each 50 lb bag.
Two separate calculations
- Start bedding with the paved area plus the base's 6-inch overhang, using exactly 1 inch of sand. More depth can lead to pavers rocking later.
- Joints are figured by bags, not tons. For standard 1/8 to 1/4 inch joints, allow one 50 lb bag for 40-75 square feet.
Joint bags (50 lb) ≈ Area ÷ 40–75 for standard joints
Bagged joint sand
| Patio size | Standard joints (1/8-1/4") | Wide joints (3/8"+) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 2-3 bags | 4-5 bags |
| 200 sq ft | 3-5 bags | 7-10 bags |
| 300 sq ft | 4-8 bags | 10-15 bags |
| 500 sq ft | 7-13 bags | 17-25 bags |
Check the label and round up because paver thickness and joint width change the coverage. Save the remaining joint sand for the first wash-in, which can drop the joints by a quarter inch.
Bedding rules for the jobsite
- Screed a one-inch course over pipes or rails, then fill the grooves as the pavers go down.
- Choose coarse, angular mason or concrete-grade sand. Rounded play sand can shift under load below pavers and in the joints.
- Keep the bedding sand loose before setting the pavers. Once they are in place, compact the finished surface to seat them in the sand.
- Stay off the screeded layer. Work forward from pavers already set.
- Screenings make a firmer bedding layer, but they are less forgiving when leveling than sand. Stay with one bedding material across the full area.
Plain or polymeric joint sand
After wetting, polymeric sand firms up and helps joints resist weeds, ants, and rain. It costs several times more per bag, has to be installed completely dry, and a poorly timed sprinkle can ruin the application. Fine plain mason sand is inexpensive, quick to sweep into place, and usually needs more added every season or two. Polymeric suits sloped paving, driveways, and other high-traffic areas. Mason sand is suitable for a level garden walk. In either case, use plain coarse sand beneath the pavers because polymeric sand is only for joints.
The joint-sand maintenance schedule
Use a dry day to sweep in joint sand, compact it, and mist it. Rain, ants, and leaf blowers gradually pull material from the joints, especially through deep frost and freeze-thaw cycling. Plain mason sand usually needs another sweep every year or two, while polymeric can hold for 5-10 years before the joint edges open. Keep the leaf blower setting low around the pavers.
Example: a 20 x 15 patio
For bedding, about 320 square feet including the overhang needs 1 inch, or 27 cubic feet, 1 cubic yard and 1.35 tons. Order 1.5 tons of mason sand. For joints, 300 square feet with standard joints uses 4-8 bags of polymeric or 2-3 bags of mason sand. Under both, the crusher run base is 4-plus tons and is sized with the Paver Base Calculator. Keep the site sand pile under a tarp. Sand that is damp-to-dry screeds cleanly; soaked sand does not.
Bedding and joint sand compared
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Other calculators
One ton of bedding rather than 25 bags.
Use mason or washed sand for bedding, and reserve bags for polymeric joint sand.