About SandRate
What is SandRate?
SandRate is an independent, advertising-supported site built around six free calculators for sand and aggregates — the everyday math behind ordering sand, mixing concrete, bedding pavers, filling a sandbox, or sizing a filter. It isn’t a materials supplier, a construction company, or a testing lab. It’s a set of tools, plus a museum of sand-related facts, published as a small reference site.
Who is it for?
Anyone who needs a sand or aggregate number before a trip to the yard: a DIYer filling a sandbox or garden bed, a landscaper estimating paver bedding, a homeowner mixing a small batch of concrete, or anyone sizing a pool or rapid sand filter. The tools assume no special training — enter your dimensions and read off the result.
What tools does the site have?
Six, all listed on the tools page:
- Sand Volume Calculator — turns length, width, and depth into cubic feet, cubic yards, cubic metres, and a weight in US tons and metric tonnes.
- Sand Weight Converter — converts between volume and weight for dry or wet sand using typical densities.
- Paver Sand Calculator — estimates bedding sand for a patio, walkway, or driveway from the paved area and bedding depth.
- Sandbox Sand Calculator — works out play sand for a rectangular or round sandbox, down to the number of 50-lb bags.
- Concrete Mix Calculator — splits a concrete volume into cement, sand, and aggregate by mix ratio, applying a 1.54 dry-volume factor.
- Sand Filter Calculator — sizes a rapid sand filter’s bed area, minimum tank diameter, and backwash flow from a design flow rate.
How do the calculators work?
Each one runs a plain geometric or ratio-based formula in your browser — volume from dimensions, weight from a density figure, mix components from a ratio, filter area from a flow rate. There is no database lookup and no hidden step; change an input and the result updates instantly.
Where do the numbers come from?
The formulas are standard, publicly documented ones used in construction and landscaping — volume-to-weight conversion via typical sand density, the widely used 1.54 dry-volume factor for concrete, and standard filtration-rate sizing for sand filters. The default densities and ratios are common reference values, not measurements of your specific sand, aggregate, or gravel, which vary by source, grain size, and moisture content.
Is SandRate free to use?
Yes. Every calculator is free, with no account or sign-up. The site is supported by on-page advertising, which is disclosed in the privacy policy.
Are the results professional advice?
No. Every result is a planning estimate, not an engineering or safety determination. For structural work — load-bearing concrete, foundations, retaining walls — consult a licensed structural engineer or qualified contractor, and follow your local building codes, before acting on any number from this site.
What’s the museum?
The Sand & Aggregates Museumis a separate, browsable collection of galleries on sand’s geology, its use in concrete, glass, and abrasives, and the dunes, deserts, and sandstone it forms. Every entry, image, and fact in it is drawn from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, credited at the source.
Is SandRate affiliated with any brand or standards body?
No. SandRate is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a representative of any sand, paver, concrete, or filter manufacturer, nor of ASTM, any building-code authority, or any other standards organization mentioned on the site. Formulas and conventions are described for reference, not published on their behalf.
Anything else worth reading?
The blog and learn section cover sand and aggregate topics in more depth than a calculator can. If something is missing, unclear, or wrong, the contact page has an email address that reaches the person who runs the site.