The Sandbox Calculator answers three questions:  

1. How much play sand is needed? 
2. How much will the sand cost? 
3. How heavy will the sandbox be? 

INSTRUCTIONS: Every kid likes playing in a sandbox.  But before they can play, the sandbox has to be bought or built and then filled with sand.  If the sand is on a porch, it may also be good to know how much it will weigh.  The Sandbox calculator has the following equations to provide this information:

• Volume of a circular sandbox -  Enter the diameter (d) of the interior of the sandbox and the desired height of the sand to find out how many cubic feet or standard bags of sand is needed.
• Volume of a rectangular sandbox -  Enter the width and length of the interior of the sandbox and the desired height of the sand to find out how many cubic feet or standard bags of sand is needed.
• Volume of an Octagon sandbox - Enter the inside length of one side and the depth of sand desired.
• Play sand pricing - Enter the volume of sand needed (from the above equations) and vCalc will provide an approximate cost of the play sand (sifted and washed for playground use) based on recently advertised pricing.
• How many bags of play sand? - Enter the volume of sand needed, and this will provide the approximate number of bags of sand needed.
• Sand Weight - Enter the volume of the sand (from the equations of above) and vCalc will approximate the weight of the sand wet and dry.  This does not include the weight of the sandbox which is typically much less than the sand. .5 cubic feet - 50 pounds

Unit Pricing

One should always use local pricing when available.  Typically a bag of play sand is 1/2 a cubic foot, so twice the price will give you the local unit price for a cubic foot of play sand.  However, for convenience, vCalc performs a periodic survey of commodities such as play sand.  The most recent play sand survey was as follows:

• Store: Lowes
• Date: 10/12/21
• Unit Price per Cubic Foot:  $8.66 USD/ft³
• Unit Price per Bag: $4.33 USD

Play Sand

Good play sand is different than sands used in other purposes in at least two ways.  First, it is washed to remove chemicals and particulates that could be a health hazard.  Second, it is sifted to a consistency good for children's play.  Play sand typically comes in bags of about 50lbs that hold a half of a cubic foot of sand.