Paver sand calculator for Iowa

For a 300-square-foot patio, bedding takes about 1.25 tons, but the joints need just 4-8 bags. They are both called sand, yet the quantities are roughly twenty-fold apart. Below, the calculator figures the bedding at exactly 1 inch of coarse material and 1.35 tons per cubic yard. Use the chart below that for joint fill, including coverage for a 50 lb bag of polymeric sand.

Two separate calculations

1. Set the bedding quantity from the paving footprint plus the base's 6-inch overhang, using exactly 1 inch. Do not build it deeper, since an oversized sand layer can leave pavers unstable.
2. For joints, figure bags rather than tonnage. A 50 lb bag handles 40-75 square feet of ordinary 1/8 to 1/4 inch joints.

Bagged joint sand

Paver thickness and joint width change coverage, so use the bag chart and round upward. Keep the extra for filling joints again after the first wash-in drops them by a quarter inch.

Bedding rules for the jobsite

• Screed a one-inch layer over pipes or rails, then fill the grooves as the pavers go down. That is it.
• Choose coarse, angular mason or concrete-grade sand for both uses. Rounded play sand will move when loaded, whether it is under the pavers or in their joints.
• Leave the bedding loose until pavers are placed. Compact the finished paver surface so the units seat into the sand.
• Stay off the screeded layer. Work forward from pavers already laid.
• Compared with sand, screenings create a somewhat firmer bed but leave less allowance for fine leveling. Use the same material throughout the surface.

Plain versus polymeric joint sand

Once wetted, polymeric sand sets up and helps keep weeds, ants, and rain from opening the joints. It costs several times more per bag, has to be installed bone dry, and a mist at the wrong time can ruin the entire sweep. Fine plain mason sand is low cost and quick to install, but plan to top it up after a season or after two. Use polymeric for sloped areas, driveways, and heavily traveled pavers. For a level garden path, mason sand is suitable. Under either choice, use plain coarse sand for bedding, since polymeric belongs in joints only.

The joint-sand maintenance schedule

Rain, ants, and leaf blowers all carry joint sand away. Add more plain mason sand at intervals of a year or two; polymeric commonly holds for 5-10 years before the joint edges open up. Work on a dry day: sweep, compact, then mist. Keep the leaf blower low around filled joints, since the nozzle can slowly remove the sand.

Example: a 20 x 15 patio

For bedding, allow about 320 square feet after adding the overhang. At 1 inch, that is 27 cubic feet, or 1 cubic yard and 1.35 tons. Plan on 1.5 tons of mason sand. For joints, 300 square feet of standard joints needs 4-8 bags of polymeric, or 2-3 bags of mason sand. Under both sits a 4-plus ton crusher run base, calculated with the Paver Base Calculator. Keep the on-site sand pile under a tarp. Sand that is damp-to-dry screeds well; soaked sand does not.

Bedding and joint sand guide

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