Solve backwards
How much patio will my bags of polymeric sand fill?
- 4 bagsThe example worked below
- Paver Polymeric Sand CalculatorEvery figure is its own
You have
How much polymeric sand?
Worked by the Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator at the settings below.
The settings it uses
- Coverage per 50 lb (22.7 kg) Bag
- 90 sq ft
What it will do
360 sq ft of paving
33.4 m²
One patio. Enough for a patio about 19 × 19 ft.
Or several. About 1 patio of the size the Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator opens on: a patio about 17.9 × 17.9 ft.
Check it forwards
- Paved Area
- 360 sq ft
- It asks for
- 4 x 50 lb bags
- You have
- 4 x 50 lb bags
The Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator asks for 4 x 50 lb bags at that size, and 5 x 50 lb bags one step larger.
If you had more, or less
Around your amount
Each worked by the Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator at the same settings.
Half
2 bags
180 sq ft
a patio about 13.4 × 13.4 ft
Yours
4 bags
360 sq ft
a patio about 19 × 19 ft
Half as much again
6 bags
540 sq ft
a patio about 23.2 × 23.2 ft
Double
8 bags
720 sq ft
a patio about 26.8 × 26.8 ft
Common amounts
What each amount of polymeric sand covers
The sizes it is usually sold in, each worked by the Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator at the settings above.
| You have | It covers | As one patio | Average patios |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bag | 90 sq ft(8.36 m²) | a patio about 9.5 × 9.5 ft | under 1 |
| 2 bags | 180 sq ft(16.7 m²) | a patio about 13.4 × 13.4 ft | under 1 |
| 4 bags | 360 sq ft(33.4 m²) | a patio about 19 × 19 ft | 1 |
| 8 bags | 720 sq ft(66.9 m²) | a patio about 26.8 × 26.8 ft | 2 |
Coverage is joint, not area
A 50 lb bag commonly covers about 80 to 100 square feet (7.4 to 9.3 m²) at ordinary residential joint widths, and the calculator opens at 90. The 20 kg bag sold in metric markets holds about 12% less sand and covers about 7.4 m², within a range of 6.5 to 8. Four 50 lb bags fill about 360 square feet, a patio about 19 feet square; four 20 kg bags fill about 29.5 m².
Small pavers, wide joints, more sand
Joint width, joint depth and paver size are not inputs, and they decide the rate: small block pavers with wide joints need far more sand per square foot than large slabs with tight joints, so the coverage printed on your bag for your joint is the one to trust. Nothing is added for sand lost sweeping and blowing off the faces, or for the top-up the joints usually need after they consolidate.
Inside the product's limits
Nothing checks that polymeric sand suits the joint. Makers set a minimum and maximum joint width, a minimum fill depth below the paver surface, and dryness, temperature and curing conditions for the binder. This is jointing sand only — not the bedding course under the pavers or the compacted base beneath that — and permeable paving takes its own specified jointing material instead.
How the answer is worked
Nothing here is a second formula. The Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator runs forwards — a size in, a quantity out — and this page grows its own starting patio in proportion until the quantity it asks for is what you have. Where it rounds up to whole containers, the answer is the largest size before the next one would be needed.
Where the calculator adds an allowance for cuts or breakage when you order, the same allowance comes off here, because it is the same calculator: a stack you already own finishes less than its face value. Where it adds none, neither does this page — the settings beside the answer say which.
Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator
runs it forwardsEstimate how many bags of polymeric sand you need to fill the joints in a paver patio or walkway.
Work out what to buy insteadSolve backwards
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Solve backwards
Start from what is already in the yard
Paint, sheets, rolls, bags and pieces, each read the other way by the calculator that orders it.
The calculator's own figures
Nothing is estimated twice: the page runs the same calculator you would order with.
The largest size that fits
Where a calculator rounds up to whole containers, the answer stops before the next one.
Both unit systems
Gallons and litres, square feet and square metres, side by side.
Frequently asked questions
- How much paving does 4 bags of polymeric sand cover?
- At the Paver Polymeric Sand Calculator's own settings, 360 sq ft (33.4 m²) — a patio about 19 × 19 ft. That is about 1 patio of the size the calculator opens on: a patio about 17.9 × 17.9 ft. Every figure follows the settings, which you can change in the calculator.
- How many square feet does a bag of polymeric sand cover?
- Commonly about 80 to 100 square feet (7.4 to 9.3 m²) for a 50 lb bag at standard residential joint widths — the calculator opens at 90 — and about 6.5 to 8 m² for a 20 kg bag. Narrow joints between large pavers go further; wide joints between small ones much less.
- How many bags of polymeric sand for a 12 by 12 patio?
- 144 square feet (13.4 m²) at 90 square feet a 50 lb bag is 1.6, so 2 bags; in metric, 13.4 m² at about 7.4 m² a 20 kg bag is also 2 bags (1.8 rounded up). With wide joints or small pavers, buy a third bag.
- Can polymeric sand go in any joint width?
- No. Each product sets a minimum and maximum joint width, a minimum depth to fill, and conditions for dryness, temperature and curing; outside them the binder may not set properly. The calculator returns a bag count for any joint, so read the bag's limits before you buy.