Sand installation

Sand is the most expensive part of the volleyball court. Soft "playground" sand can cost well over ten thousand dollars! Another variable is the sand depth. Some sites recommend 12" of sand depth, which obviously can get costly.

Given my minimal budget, I decided to get locally sourced sand. This sand is typically used for concrete, so I inspected it first. It wasn't pure, soft sand, but it seemed similar to beach sand with lots of small pebbles in it. I ordered a dump truck full of sand, which turned out to be about 12 tons of sand. At $30 per ton, the total order cost $360 delivered.

The sand, delivered:


I spread the sand with rakes and shovels. It was quite a workout and took some time (about five hours, including breaks). In hindsight, I would have had the dump truck operator spread the sand out a little more.

Eventually, sand is spread and the net is adjusted to the correct height:


Post-play notes:
1) The sand is about 4" deep in the middle area and maybe 1" on the edges. Very little sand was left for outside the lines. But the sand was soft enough to dive in, and no one was hitting the ground under the sand.
2) It certainly would be nice to have sand in the out of bounds area, but the priority is the playing surface.
3) There were some skinned knees and elbows from the sand's coarseness, but no significant injuries. Obviously better quality sand would avoid this.