Bags of Sand for a 5x20 Walkway
How many bags of sand for a 5x20 walkway: at 2 inches deep you need about 16.7 cubic feet, which is 34 bags of the common 0.5 cubic foot size. If your store sells sand in 50-pound bags instead, figure about 34 bags, since sand weighs roughly 100 pounds per cubic foot.
Volume and tonnage calculator →Bag count by depth
| Depth | Cubic feet | 0.5 cu ft bags | 50 lb bags (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 8.3 | 17 | 17 |
| 2 in | 16.7 | 34 | 34 |
| 3 in | 25.0 | 50 | 50 |
| 4 in | 33.3 | 67 | 67 |
How to figure it
- Area: 5 × 20 = 100 sq ft.
- Volume: 100 × (2 ÷ 12) = 16.7 cu ft.
- Bags: 16.7 ÷ 0.5 = 34 bags (round up).
Bags or bulk?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so 16.7 cubic feet is 0.62 yards, about 0.8 tons. Under a yard, bags save a delivery fee and are easy to haul in a car or pickup. Compare the bag price × 34 against a bulk quote for 0.9 tons delivered.
About sand
Sand weight changes a lot with moisture. Damp sand can weigh noticeably more per yard than dry sand, so a ton of wet sand covers less area than the same ton dry.
Laying it down for a walkway
- Dig and level. Remove sod and set the base slightly below the surrounding grade.
- Edge it. Steel, plastic or stone edging keeps material in place.
- Spread in layers. Rake to depth, then tamp or wet and compact.
- Buy a few extra. Grab 5 to 10 percent more bags for settling and touch-ups.
The volume and tonnage calculator handles other sizes and depths.
When to choose sand
Best suited to:
- Paver and flagstone bedding
- Leveling under above-ground pools (with the right product)
- Filling joints and backfilling pipe
Less suited to:
- Driveway bases, since sand shifts under load
- Steep areas exposed to runoff
- Thick layers under pavers, which settle unevenly
Quick reference numbers
- Per inch over 100 sq ft: about 0.42 tons of sand (0.31 cubic yards).
- Per inch over 1,000 sq ft: about 4.2 tons.
- Another size for comparison: a 15x30 area at 3 inches takes about 5.6 tons.
- Weight used here: about 1.35 tons per cubic yard.
Mistakes that throw off the order
- Forgetting that compaction shrinks loose material. A loose 4-inch spread of a dense-graded stone may finish closer to 3 inches after rolling.
- Ignoring the base. A thin surface layer over soft soil fails early no matter how much material is on top.
- Ordering exactly the math. Uneven ground and spillage nearly always need a little more than the flat calculation.
- Using inches as if they were feet. Depth has to be divided by 12 before you multiply; skipping that step inflates the order twelvefold.
Questions people ask
How many bags of sand for a 5x20 walkway?
About 34 bags of 0.5 cubic feet at 2 inches deep.
How many 50 lb bags of sand for 5x20?
About 34 bags at 2 inches.
How many 0.5 cubic foot bags are in a cubic yard?
54 bags.
How many cubic feet is a 5x20 walkway at 2 inches?
About 16.7 cubic feet.
When does bulk make more sense?
Usually once the job passes about a cubic yard, or when you would need more than a few car trips.
Related guides
- How Much Does a Ton of Sand Cover?
- Tons to Cubic Yards for Gravel: Conversion Chart
- How Much Does a Ton of Gravel Cover? Depth Chart
- Bags of Sand for a 5x10 Walkway
- Bags of Sand for a 5x15 Walkway
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