Types of Sand: Mason, Concrete, Play and Fill
Sand is not one product. Yards stock four or five graded differently, they cost different amounts, and swapping one for another is behind a good share of failed patios and cracked mortar.
The distinction is grain size, angularity and whether it has been washed. Everything else follows from those three.
The four you will be offered
| Sand | Grain | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Mason sand | Fine, uniform, washed | Mortar, stucco, grout. Fine enough to trowel smooth. |
| Concrete sand | Coarse, angular, washed | Concrete mixes and paver bedding. The angularity is what locks. |
| Play sand | Very fine, washed, screened | Sandboxes. Rounded and dust-free by design. |
| Fill sand | Coarse, unwashed, variable | Backfill and bulk fill. Cheapest by a distance. |
Two more turn up regionally: polymeric sand, a fine sand with a binder for sweeping into paver joints, and white or silica sand for specialist mixes and sports surfaces.
The substitutions that fail
Play sand under pavers. The commonest mistake, and it looks sensible: it is clean, fine and easy to screed. But the grains are rounded and uniform, so they roll rather than lock, and the bedding layer keeps moving under load. Pavers settle unevenly within a season. Use concrete sand.
Concrete sand in mortar. Too coarse. Mortar made with it is gritty, hard to work, and gives a poor bond. Use mason sand.
Fill sand anywhere it shows or bears load. Unwashed means silt and clay are still in it, which holds water and moves with frost. Fine under a slab as bulk fill, wrong as a bedding layer.
Mason sand in a sandbox. Usually fine, but it is not screened to the same standard and may carry more dust. Play sand exists for a reason.
Washed versus unwashed
Washing rinses out the silt, clay and organic fines. The difference is practical rather than cosmetic:
- Washed drains freely, does not hold water, and behaves predictably in a mix. Required for anything structural.
- Unwashed holds moisture and can swell and shrink. Cheaper, and fine where it is simply filling a hole.
Same principle as the difference between a driveway base and a drainage backfill — gravel vs crushed stone covers why fines help in one and ruin the other.
What it costs, and how it is sold
Sand is sold by the ton, like gravel, not by the cubic yard like topsoil. Reckon on about 1.3 tons per cubic yard.
Fill sand is the cheapest by a wide margin; mason and concrete sand are similar to each other; play sand costs more because of the extra screening and washing. Across most markets the spread from fill to play is roughly three to one.
For quantities, the arithmetic is the same as gravel — how much gravel do I need has the coverage tables and the ton conversion.
What to ask for
Do not ask for "sand". Describe the job — "bedding for a paver patio", "mortar for a block wall", "backfill behind a retaining wall" — and let the yard name their product. Regional names vary more than the materials do: concrete sand is "torpedo sand" in parts of the Midwest and "ASTM C33" on a spec sheet, and they are the same thing.
Find sand and aggregate suppliers near you on Topsoil.com.