How to Calculate the Sand for a Pool Bottom
- 1). Calculate how thick the sand will be. The layer of sand is usually 1 or 2 inches thick; it should be thick enough to work with and to smooth over any eccentricities.
- 2). Divide the pool (mentally) into its subcomponent shapes. Many pools are simply a rectangle or circle, but others have more complex geometries best described as a combination of rectangles, circles, and triangles.
- 3). Calculate the area of each shape. The area of a triangle is base multiplied by height. The area of a triangle is 1/2 its base multiplied by its height (where height is the length of the line running perpendicularly from its base to its vertex). The area of a circle is pi (approximately equal to 3.14) multiplied by the square of its radius.
- 4). Add the individual component areas together to obtain the total area of the pool.
- 5). Convert the desired height into a base unit that is in common with the calculated area. If you calculated the area in square feet, divide the number of inches by 12.
- 6). Multiply the desired height of the sand layer by the pool's area to get the total volume of required sand.
