Polymeric Sand Calculator: Bags to Fill Paver Joints

1. Enter the paver area to fill in square feet, the surface whose joints need sand.
2. Pick the brand. For Techniseal or Gator, set the joint situation toggle to narrow or wide. For Quikrete, pick the joint thickness. For Custom, type your own coverage.
3. Set your waste allowance and read the bags needed. Where the brand gives a coverage range, you get a bag range plus a midpoint estimate.

A polymeric sand calculator estimates how many bags of jointing sand you need to fill the gaps between pavers. It turns the paved area and the joint situation into bags, using each brand's published coverage.

Polymeric sand is a blend of graded sand and binders that hardens when wetted, locking pavers in place and resisting weeds and washout. Because it fills the joint voids, the amount depends on how wide and deep those joints are, not just on the surface area.

This is a joint-fill problem. For loose bedding or leveling sand under the pavers, use the sand calculator or the how much sand do I need guide instead. For other gap fillers, see the joint filler calculator.

Coverage per bag falls as joints get wider, so every maker publishes coverage as a function of joint width. The calculator reads that figure for your brand and joint situation, then divides your area by it.

Coverage is published as a range (a high narrow-joint value and a low wide-joint value), so the honest answer is a bag range. The high coverage gives the fewest bags and the low coverage the most; the midpoint is a sensible planning figure.

1. Area. The paved square footage whose joints you are filling.
2. Coverage. Looked up from the brand and joint situation. Narrow (tight) joints stretch a bag far; wide or large-format joints use several times more.
3. Waste. Your own allowance for spillage and over-sweep, multiplied in.
4. Bags. Area divided by coverage, times waste, rounded up to whole bags.

Techniseal does not publish a single numeric cutoff between narrow and wide, so this tool does not invent one: treat tight paver joints as narrow and large-format or natural-stone joints as wide. Quikrete alone gives a width-indexed bag-count table, used directly.

Take a 400 sq ft patio of standard 2x4x8 in brick with 1/4 in joints, filled with Quikrete PowerLoc in 50 lb bags.

1. Read the table. Quikrete's PowerLoc bag-count table for a 2x4x8 brick lists the 1/4 in row and 400 sq ft column as 9 bags.
2. Check the per-bag figure. That column implies about 44.4 sq ft per 50 lb bag at 1/4 in joints.
3. Scale. 400 / 44.4 = 9.0, which rounds up to 9 bags with no waste, matching the table exactly.

Now a range brand. A 300 sq ft patio of tight (narrow) paver joints with Techniseal HP NextGel covers 60-120 sq ft per bag. 300 / 120 = 2.5 (round up 3) and 300 / 60 = 5 (round up 5), so plan 3-5 bags, about 4 bags at the 90 sq ft midpoint. The spread reflects how wide and deep the joints really are.

Joint size drives everything. The same patio can take two or three times the sand depending on the joints and pavers.

Joint Width

This is the biggest lever. Techniseal covers 60-120 sq ft per bag in narrow joints but only 25-40 in wide ones, roughly a third as far. Wide and large-format layouts always use far more.

Joint Depth

Deeper joints hold more sand. Techniseal and Gator both call for a minimum joint depth of 1.5 in for full activation; DOMINATOR asks for at least 1 in. Shallow joints waste the binder.

Paver Size

Small units have more joint length per square foot, so they use more sand. Gator's chart assumes pavers about 2-3/8 in high, and Quikrete's table assumes a standard 2x4x8 brick; other sizes shift the coverage.

Waste and Technique

Sweeping, wind and uneven joints lose sand. A 5 to 10 percent allowance is common; it is your own assumption, not a maker figure. For how allowances work, see the driveway base guide for the layers underneath.

The four verified brands publish coverage in different shapes, so match the calculator mode to how each maker states it.

Do not cross-apply numbers between brands: a coverage figure is tied to that maker's paver assumption and joint bands. DOMINATOR's 40 lb bag also differs from the 50 lb bags of the other three, so a bag count is not directly comparable. When your product is not listed, choose Custom and enter the coverage from its data sheet.

Buying Sand for a New Paver Patio or Walkway

Enter the area, pick the brand and joint situation, and read the bag range to order.

Re-sanding Old Joints

Swept-out joints usually act like narrow joints near the top but can be deep. Use the narrow band and add waste for washout.

Choosing Between Brands

Switch brands with the same area to compare bag counts, remembering DOMINATOR's 40 lb bag.

Checking a Supplier Quote

Run your area here. A big gap usually means a different joint width, paver size or brand than the quote assumed. For the full build, browse the construction calculators.

1. Using a Narrow-joint Figure for Wide Joints

Wide or large-format joints can use three times the sand. Always match the joint situation to the real layout.

2. Ignoring Joint Depth

Techniseal and Gator need joints at least 1.5 in deep to activate. Shallow joints both waste product and fail sooner.

3. Mixing Up Bag Weights

DOMINATOR ships in 40 lb bags, not 50 lb. Counting its bags like the others understates the weight you carry home.

4. Pushing Quikrete PowerLoc Past 1/2 In

PowerLoc is rated for joints up to 1/2 in on a standard brick. Wider joints need a different product and a different number.

5. Borrowing One Brand's Coverage for Another

Each coverage figure is tied to that maker's paver and joint assumptions. Use the brand you are actually buying.

6. Forgetting the Bedding Sand

Polymeric sand fills joints only. The leveling sand under the pavers is a separate order; size it with the sand calculator.

The calculator reproduces each maker's published coverage and the Quikrete table exactly. Real jobs vary with joint width, depth and paver shape, which is why range brands return a range.

Treat the midpoint as a planning figure and the range as the realistic spread. Always confirm the final quantity against the manufacturer's current technical data sheet and the joint size you measure on site.

It depends on area, joint width and brand. A 400 sq ft patio of 2x4x8 brick with 1/4 in joints needs 9 bags of 50 lb Quikrete PowerLoc. The same area in narrow joints with Techniseal would take fewer; wide joints take far more.

Because coverage itself is a range. Makers publish a high narrow-joint value and a low wide-joint value, since joint width and paver size change how far a bag goes. The high coverage gives the fewest bags and the low coverage the most.

For narrow paver joints, roughly 60-120 sq ft (Techniseal) or 65-85 sq ft (Gator) per 50 lb bag. Wide joints drop to about 22-40 sq ft. DOMINATOR covers about 80 sq ft per 40 lb bag.

From its bag-count table for a 2x4x8 brick: about 80 sq ft at 1/8 in joints, 44 at 1/4 in, 31 at 3/8 in and 24 at 1/2 in, per 50 lb bag. PowerLoc is rated for joints up to 1/2 in only.

No. DOMINATOR is sold mainly in 40 lb bags, not the 50 lb bags of Techniseal, Gator and Quikrete. It covers about 80 sq ft per 40 lb bag and needs joints at least 1 in deep.

Techniseal and Gator both call for a minimum joint depth of 1.5 in for full activation; DOMINATOR asks for at least 1 in. Shallow joints hold too little binder and fail sooner.

Narrow means tight paver joints; wide means large-format or natural-stone joints. There is no single published width cutoff for Techniseal, so pick the band that matches your layout rather than a fixed number.

A 5 to 10 percent allowance is common for spillage, over-sweeping and uneven joints. It is your own assumption, not a manufacturer figure. Set it to 0 if you want to match a maker table exactly.

No. Polymeric sand fills the joints only. The bedding or leveling sand under the pavers is a separate material; size it with the sand calculator, not this tool.

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent to our servers. Anything you choose to Save stays in this browser only.

• Techniseal HP NextGel Jointing Sand technical data sheet (coverage, p.13): narrow 60-120, wide 25-40 sq ft per 50 lb bag, min joint depth 1.5 in (Techniseal, update January 24 2023, read 2026-10-04).
• Alliance Gator Maxx G2 coverage chart: narrow 1/8-3/8 in 65-85, wide 3/4-1-1/4 in 22-42 sq ft per 50 lb bag, pavers 2-3/8 in high (Alliance Gator, undated product page, read 2026-10-04).
• DOMINATOR Polymeric Sand product and application pages: about 80 sq ft per 40 lb bag, joints 1/8 to 4 in wide and at least 1 in deep (Black Diamond Coatings, undated, read 2026-10-04).
• QUIKRETE PowerLoc Jointing Sand sell sheet (No. 1150-47): bag-count table by area and joint thickness for a standard 2x4x8 brick, joints up to 1/2 in (Quikrete, undated, read 2026-10-04).