Calculate How Much Sand You Will Need Using The Sand Calculator
You start by finding or building a straight 2x4 that is 1 foot longer than your pool diameter. In our case, we had a 15 ft pool so I attached two 2x4's together to make one long 16 foot 2x4, as shown below. You will use this long 2x4 for leveling the sand as well along with any inexpensive carpenter's level.. Click on photo to enlarge
Then, place one end of the 2x4 on the high side of your pool site and raise up the other end until it is level. Measure the distance in inches that you must raise the end up. In the photo below, I had to raise the end 4 inches. This distance is what you enter in the calculator below. Note that if you have more than a 2" drop, you should level out your site by removing soil from the high side - otherwise you may have problems with the pool sinking into the softer end more. Then measure again.
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Enter the actual swimming pool diameter and the distance (drop) you measured in inches in the calculator below. You will be given an answer in both cubic feet and cubic yards. More than you thought it would be, isn't it! Keep in mind that a large wheelbarrow filled is about 6 cubic feet and it takes about 4 1/2 of these wheelbarrows full to make 1 cubic yard. If you buy sand in bags at a home store, you may end paying many times the price of simply having some delivered in a truck. We had about 10 cubic yards of sand delivered for about $90, but the sand pit is only 2 miles away so we got a break on the delivery charge. We got this huge amount because we needed the sand for other projects in addition to leveling our pool site..
Swimming Pool Site Sand Calculator
Note that this calculator adds 3 feet to your diameter and calculates the sand to level your area. It then calculates an additional 2 inches of sand to place over the leveled area. If you have more than 2" to level out, you should level out your area by removing soil from the high side first. Then remeasure.
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