Screeded at one inch, Paver Sand holds its level through a Cape Ann winter with no differential settling across the field. Where it falls short: the fine grain washes out of open perimeter joints on exposed sites, and it is dusty to move dry. Gloucester delivery is $130 per load — just outside our flat zone.
Does Ottr deliver to Gloucester, and what does it cost?
Yes. Gloucester is 37.6 driving miles from our Dorchester yard, 7.6 past the edge of our 30-mile flat zone. At $100 plus $4 per mile beyond 30, a load runs $130; the 01931 ZIP is $134. Most of Essex County is inside the flat zone at $100, and Cape Ann is one of two corners that is not.
The load structure matters more. The fee is per truck trip, loads are counted per line item, and sand and stone cap at 6 cubic yards each. Order 2 yards of Paver Sand and 4 of base stone and that is two trips — $260 in freight.
What follows assesses the material in the bedding role on an exposed Cape Ann site. It is not a customer story and carries no testimonial.
What held up well?
- Screed consistency. A one-inch screed off two rails stays one inch across the field, and level bedding is what stops the pattern reading crooked a year later.
- No differential settling. Laid at one inch over a compacted base, it compresses evenly then stops — a field that drops a hair uniformly, not a dip in the traffic lane.
- Freeze-thaw behaviour. Cape Ann is granite ledge under thin soil, and patios here cycle repeatedly with water moving through. A thin sand bed over free-draining stone handles that better than anything thicker.
What fell short?
- Fine sand leaves open joints on exposed sites. The real Cape Ann issue. Northeast storms drive rain sideways at Eastern Point, Bay View and anywhere with a clear fetch, and unstabilised joint sand leaves the perimeter courses first. Expect a top-up in year two.
- It is not a base. Without 4 to 6 inches of compacted Dense Pack ¾" to minus underneath, the sand faithfully transmits every movement of the ground below.
- Dust when dry. Moving it dry in July is unpleasant, and the fines land on pavers you have already laid. Hose the pile the evening before, screed in the morning.
- It is not the spec bedding. The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute bedding course is washed concrete sand. Paver Sand screeds beautifully, but building to spec, Concrete Sand at $65 is the closer match. That is a $5-per-yard upsell we are telling you to take.
How do the sands and base materials compare?
| Material | Price/yd | Role | Fails when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paver Sand | $60 | Bedding at 1", joint fill | Screeded thick; unstabilised joints |
| Concrete Sand | $65 | Spec bedding course at 1" | Used as joint fill — too coarse |
| Mason Sand | $75 | Mortar, sandboxes, joints | Used as bedding — too fine |
| Dense Pack ¾" to minus | $76 | Compacted base, 4"–6" | Not compacted in lifts |
How much do you need, and what does it cost delivered?
cubic yards = (square feet × depth in inches) ÷ 324
At a one-inch bedding course, one cubic yard covers roughly 300 square feet. A 12-by-16 patio is 192 square feet — 0.6 yards of bedding, so one yard with sand spare for joints. The base is the volume that matters: 192 square feet at 5 inches compacted is 2.96 yards, call it 3. Delivered to Gloucester that is two loads and $260 in freight.
Verdict
Paver Sand is a good bedding sand and an honest $60 a yard, and the failures attributed to it are almost always installation depth or a missing base. On a sheltered Gloucester site it is all you need. On a genuinely exposed site, spend the extra on Concrete Sand and plan on stabilising the joints.
Gloucester patio questions
How thick should the bedding sand be?
One inch after screeding, never more. Two inches will compress under traffic regardless of which sand you use, and it is the most common cause of a patio that keeps settling.
Can I lay pavers directly on Cape Ann ledge?
Not directly — you still need a drainage and levelling course. But shallow ledge is a real advantage: nothing soft underneath to settle.
Does the $130 fee apply per yard or per order?
Per load, meaning per truck trip, counted per line item. One line item under the 6-yard cap is one $130 charge whether you buy one yard or six.
Browse all sand by the cubic yard or patio and walkway base materials, and check delivery on our Gloucester page. If you are refreshing beds this season too, the late-July bed habits piece covers what not to over-order.
