Three sands, and they are not interchangeable.
Sharp for concrete and screed, building for mortar, plastering for finishing. Ordering the wrong one is the most common aggregate mistake there is, and it usually shows up when something cracks rather than when it is delivered.
Prefer to talk? 0161 570 0813, Mon–Fri 7am–6pm.
Get a price for Sand
Tell us the job and we will name the grade.
Which sand does what.
The difference is the grain: coarse and angular for strength, fine and rounded for workability. Use a fine sand where you needed a coarse one and the mix loses strength.
- Sharp sand
- Coarse, angular. Concrete and screed
- Building sand
- Softer, finer. Bricklaying mortar
- Plastering sand
- Finest. Render and plaster coats
- Supplied as
- Loose tipped or one-tonne bulk bags
- Rough guide
- About 1.6 tonnes per m³ loose
Getting the grade right.
Over-ordering wastes money and under-ordering wastes a delivery slot. We would rather tell you now than send you the wrong thing.
- ✓Sharp sand for concrete, screed and paving beds
- ✓Building sand for brick and block mortar
- ✓Plastering sand for render and finishing coats
- ✓Bulk bags where access will not take a tipper
What we would not put in it
- ✗Substituting building sand into concrete. It is too fine and the mix loses strength
- ✗Using sharp sand for a finishing coat, which will not work up smooth
- ✗Storing loose sand uncovered in the wet, which changes the water in your mix
Not sure which side of the line your waste falls on? Ask us. It is a thirty second conversation and it saves a wasted delivery.
Three steps, and one of them is ours.
Tell us the postcode
Four fields. No account, no sign-up, and nobody rings you to qualify you before you get a number.
We price it against the market
We are a brokerage, so your job goes out to the suppliers who actually cover your postcode rather than to one depot's price list.
A real person comes back
Usually within the hour in working hours, with a price and a delivery date. If a different size saves you money, we say so.
One call instead of four.
You can do this yourself. Most people do it once and then stop, because the hour it takes is worth more than the difference it finds.
Doing it yourself
- ✗The wrong grade delivered because nobody asked what it was for
- ✗A cracked screed traced back to the sand weeks later
- ✗Paying builders' merchant bag prices for bulk quantities
- ✗A tipper that cannot get down the side of the house
One point of contact
- ✓Tell us the job and we will name the grade
- ✓Loose or bagged, whichever the access allows
- ✓Priced against suppliers local to the postcode
- ✓On one invoice with everything else you hire
The things people ask before booking.
Grain size and shape. Sharp sand is coarse and angular, which gives concrete and screed their strength. Building sand is finer and softer, which makes mortar workable enough to lay bricks with. They are not interchangeable, and swapping one for the other weakens whatever you are making.
It depends on the method. Sharp sand for a bedding layer under slabs, kiln-dried sand for brushing into block paving joints. Tell us how you are laying it and we will name the grade rather than guessing from the word patio.
Roughly 0.6 cubic metres loose, so about 1.6 tonnes to the cubic metre. For anything of size, work in tonnes rather than bags: the price per tonne in bulk is a fraction of what small bags cost.
Loose is cheaper per tonne and fine where a tipper can get to the spot. Bulk bags cost more but can be craned or barrowed to where you actually need them, which matters on a finished drive or a rear garden.
For mortar and concrete, yes. Saturated sand carries water you have not accounted for, which throws the mix. Keep it sheeted if it is sitting for any length of time, particularly if you are mixing to a spec.
The right sand, on site.
Tell us what you are making and where the site is. We will name the grade, check the tonnage and price it delivered.
Or ring 0161 570 0813 and we will price it on the call.