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I am planning to build a sand pit in my backyard. The area measures 200 sq. ft. What do you suggest is the the best approach in preparing the area, choosing the sand, how much sand to use, and laying the sand?

Timbercanary
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A cubic yard will make a depth of about 1.6 in.. So 3 yards (close to 6 tons) will make a depth of roughly 5 in. My experience is you may be making a large toilet for neighborhood cats. In our area , native growth would take it over in about 3 years unless it is routinely raked and cleaned. I would just dump the sand on the ground, that is already enough work. If this were a personal blog, I would tell about the time I got 500 yards (1000 tons) of sand dumped in my small back yard.

blacksmith37
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  • Interesting, Blacksmith, that your coverage calculation is different from the standard used in the industry where I've worked: 1 cubic yard covers 100 sq ft 3 inches deep. I'm guessing that we're both right and that the calc I've always used was for "fluffier" things like wood chips, top soil, and gravel rather than something with much smaller pores like sand. What do you think? I'd also love to hear what you did with 500 yards of sand (isn't that something like 40 large dump trucks' full of sand?). – Jurp Sep 02 '21 at 13:12
  • I just did arithmetic, assuming no density change. I used 39 trucks sand ( Lake Michigan dune sand) , 2 clay, 2 broken brick , about 120 RR ties; building a bulkhead along a stream in a ravine. I was younger then , never even considered I might need some approval. – blacksmith37 Sep 03 '21 at 14:48
  • In Wisconsin, depending on who is governor, you'd either be facing an extremely major fine or just a handslap. A neighbor of mine totally destroyed a trout stream and got... a $500 fine. He was also allowed to keep the idiotic changes that he'd made to the stream. The trout never came back :( Trout Unlimited was livid, but could do nothing. – Jurp Sep 03 '21 at 22:32