Concrete Sand Delivery in Seattle, WA

Concrete Sand in Seattle: Free Draining Sand Built for a Wet Climate

Seattle hands every contractor the same challenge: rain. Roughly 150 wet days a year, saturated soils, and a long gray season mean the materials you build with have to shed water and stay strong while they do it. Concrete sand is made for exactly these conditions. It is a coarse, washed sand graded from 0 to 3/8 inch, tan to gray, weighing about 2,700 pounds per cubic yard, with sharp angular grains that lock into cement and drain freely. Across the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro it is the fine aggregate of choice for concrete and the standard bedding material under pavers and pipe.

The reason crews from Ballard to the south end rely on this sand comes down to how the grains behave. They interlock rather than roll, so a slab gains compressive strength and a paver bed resists pumping even on soggy ground. The washed gradation keeps silt and clay out of the mix, which matters enormously in a climate where everything tends to stay damp. When a Seattle job needs a clean, structural, free draining sand, concrete sand is the answer, whether you are pouring a garage pad, bedding a patio or cradling drain pipe in a wet trench.

Why Seattle Builders Choose Concrete Sand

This is the sand that gives concrete its name. Mixed with stone, cement and water, its sharp grains fill the voids and bond with the paste to produce a durable, crack resistant slab. But Seattle contractors put it to work well beyond the mixer.

• Concrete mixing: the fine aggregate in driveways, slabs, footings and foundation walls across the metro.
• Paver bedding: a screeded 1 inch setting course under interlocking pavers on patios and walkways throughout the city.
• Pipe bedding: a stable, free draining cradle around water, sewer and stormwater lines, critical given Seattle’s heavy rainfall.
• Masonry work: a coarse base sand for grout, parging and block work.

When your job needs a finer, smoother sand, like brick mortar or a stucco coat, use our Mason Sand instead. For backfilling or raising low, soggy grade, our economical Fill Sand is the better value. And for a paver installation that lasts through Pacific Northwest winters, compact our crushed Paver Base first as the sub-base, then screed concrete sand on top as the setting bed.

Local Delivery and Lead Times in the Puget Sound Region

We deliver concrete sand throughout Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound region, covering the city core, the Eastside toward Bellevue, and the south corridor toward Tacoma. For projects that justify a longer haul we also reach Portland, about 145 miles south down the I-5 corridor. Our drivers know the realities of Seattle delivery, the hilly neighborhoods, the narrow side streets, the tight downtown access and the steady traffic, so we route loads to fit the site.

Lead times follow order size. A single ton typically arrives within 1 to 2 business days. Move up to 6 tons or more and we can usually deliver the same or next day. Order 16 tons or more and delivery is free and gets priority scheduling. Because Seattle weather can shift quickly, we recommend booking your delivery to land in a dry window so your sand stays workable and your pour or paver job goes down on schedule.

How Much Concrete Sand Do You Need?

Concrete sand is sold by the ton, and at 2,700 pounds per cubic yard one ton is just under three quarters of a cubic yard. For paver bedding, estimate by depth. A 1 inch setting bed over a 350 square foot patio is about 29 cubic feet, roughly 1.08 cubic yards, or close to 1.45 tons. Round up to 1.5 or 2 tons to cover screeding loss on a typical backyard.

For concrete, fine aggregate is usually about a third of the mix volume. A 12 by 16 foot slab poured 4 inches thick is about 2.4 cubic yards of finished concrete, calling for roughly 2 to 2.5 tons of concrete sand alongside your stone and cement. For pipe bedding in a wet Seattle trench, multiply trench width by bedding depth by length, convert to tons, and add 10 percent for compaction loss. Give us your dimensions and we will confirm the tonnage.

Seattle Pricing: What Concrete Sand Costs Here

Pacific Northwest freight and aggregate costs make Seattle a higher priced market, and our tiers reward volume to offset that. Concrete sand starts from $120 per ton:

• 1 ton or more: $163 per ton with a $312 delivery fee, in 1 to 2 business days.
• 6 tons or more: $146 per ton with a reduced $168 delivery fee, same or next day.
• 16 tons or more: $120 per ton with free delivery.

The spread between a single ton and a full 16 ton load is substantial in Seattle. You save 43 dollars per ton and the delivery fee drops to zero. For a builder running several pours across Seattle and the Eastside, batching into one 16 ton order is by far the cheapest way to source concrete sand here.

Placement and Installation Tips

In a wet climate, drainage is everything. Compact your Paver Base on a properly graded base that drains away from structures, then screed concrete sand to a uniform 1 inch without compacting the loose sand first. Set the pavers and finish with a plate compactor to lock the surface. A consistent inch matters, because a thick or uneven setting bed will channel water and let pavers shift once the fall rains arrive. For concrete, keep sand covered and as dry as you can manage so Seattle moisture does not throw off your water to cement ratio, and check the sand’s moisture by hand before you batch since stockpiled material absorbs a lot of ambient damp here. For pipe bedding, place the sand in lifts and tamp gently around the haunches so the line is fully supported in unstable, saturated ground, and bring the bedding up evenly on both sides so the pipe cannot roll or float in a flooded trench.

Seasonal Notes for Washington

The Puget Sound wet season runs roughly October through April, and it dominates the construction calendar. Concrete sand demand spikes in the dry stretch from late spring through early fall, when curing conditions are dependable and crews can pour and set pavers without fighting the rain. Hard freezes are uncommon in the lowlands, so the dominant seasonal risk is water, not cold. Cover stockpiled sand to protect its moisture content, schedule pours for dry windows, and order ahead in summer when demand is highest so a truck is ready when your crew is.

From a foundation pour in West Seattle to a bedded patio on the Eastside, our washed concrete sand is sharp, consistent and built to drain. Tell us the tonnage and the address and we will get a truck rolling toward your site.

About Concrete Sand

Concrete sand is a coarse, washed, well graded sand engineered as the fine aggregate in concrete and as a structural bedding material. Sized from 0 to 3/8 inch and tan to gray in color, it weighs roughly 2,700 pounds per cubic yard. The grains are angular and sharp rather than rounded, which gives it the interlock and bonding strength that finer sands cannot match.

Its primary use is in concrete, where it fills the voids between the larger stone and binds with cement paste to make a strong, durable slab. Because it is washed, it carries very little silt or clay, so it will not weaken the mix or hold unwanted moisture. That clean, free draining nature also makes it the standard choice for a paver setting bed, where it is screeded to a uniform inch and supports interlocking pavers without pumping or rutting under load.

Contractors also rely on concrete sand for pipe bedding and haunching, where its stability cradles water, sewer and stormwater lines and resists settling over time. In masonry it serves as a coarse base sand for grout and parging. It compacts well, drains fast and stays put once placed.

Concrete sand is not the same as fine mason sand or as cheap fill sand. Mason sand is finer and smoother for mortar and smooth finishes, while fill sand is an unwashed material for raising grade. Choose concrete sand whenever the application is structural or load bearing and demands a clean, sharp, consistent aggregate. Sold by the ton and delivered in bulk, it is the everyday workhorse sand on job sites nationwide.

What Concrete Sand costs in Seattle

In the Seattle market, concrete sand is sold by the ton and priced at the gate before delivery is added on. Pricing in Seattle starts at $120 per ton on full-truck loads, which works out to roughly $162 per cubic yard at the typical density of 2700 lb per yard. One ton covers about 80 sq ft at a 3 inch finished depth, so a 400 sq ft driveway pad runs roughly 5 tons.

How crews use Concrete Sand in Seattle

Crews working out of Seattle tend to call for concrete sand on a few repeat jobs each week. The first is pipe bedding, typically laid in tight urban lots and infill builds with a base lift compacted before the finish course goes on. The second is base course gravel, which lands here in dense neighborhoods where curb access is short and usually ships as a 4 to 8 ton order. With a population around 749,256, Seattle pulls a mix of single-truck homeowner orders and contractor full-loads through the season.

Delivery day in Seattle

On the day of the drop, the dispatcher pulls the closest yard, batches your ticket with other Seattle stops, and sends a window the night before. Tandem-axle dumps need at least 12 ft of clear width and 14 ft overhead to set the bed; tri-axles need 14 ft of clearance on both counts and a level pad to tip safely. Standard lead time on this lane is Mon-Sat, with same-day windows held open for orders that hit the desk before 11 AM and clear payment.

Delivered pricing in Seattle

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