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If you want to get a little more technical, some concrete experts recommend going for 26 percent sand, 41 percent gravel, 11 percent cement and 16 percent water. The lacking 6 percent volume is air entrainment. Air entrainment is an admixture added to the mix during production to assist the mix in resisting the damaging effects of freeze-thaw cycles.
This admixture is required in all concrete exposed to exterior elements. Overall this makes a good general purpose mix for foundations and other structures. While Portland cement is the standard for concrete mixtures, the type of sand you use may vary.
The answer to this question has to do with the previously mentioned fact that sand, as a commodity, is in short supply and as large DIY chains tend to buy in massive bulk quantities, their normal supplier may not be able to supply them in these quantities from their normal go-to source due to low stocks. When this happens, sand need to be sourced from another supplier or location where it may be of a slightly different colour, hence the difference.
For more information on how to match mortar colours, see our project here. You may also want to check out our product review of a very good tint and colour-match dye made by Bebbington Brick here. This type of sand is a fairly course type of sand due to the fact that the particles that make it up are fairly large. Typically the grain particles are also quite sharp and angular in shape. As it is mainly mined from inland areas away from the coast it does not contain salts that would otherwise allow it to absorb atmospheric moisture and this makes it idea for use in the building trade where moisture and damp issues need to be avoided.
More often than not, sharp sand or pit sand has a orangy red colouring as it is often found in areas with concentrations of iron-oxide. Unlike the sharp sand above, builders sand is much finer due to the fact that the grains are much smaller. In terms of the grains, unlike the course sharp and angular grains that make up sharp sand, the grains found in builders sand are much more rounded and smoothed off.
As the grains are smaller and smoother, this results in a much smoother overall finish hence the reason builders sand is used in screeding and plastering applications. As the name suggests e. In terms of colouring, builders sand normally tends to be a light grey colour and can in some instances appear almost white. Keeping with the theme of the name describing where a given type of sand is sourced from, jointing sand or beach sand is collected mostly from beaches and areas around coastlines.
Due to the fact that beach sand is collected from coastal regions, it does contain the afore mentioned salts that absorb atmospheric moisture and cause damp issues. Due to this it is not used widely in construction. On a comparative level, artificial sand is a very close match to building sand mostly because building sand tends to be more widely used than any of the other types.
In terms of how artificial sand is made, generally, it is produced through crushing up basalt rock or granite rock and due to this is normally greyish in colour. Although M sand or artificial sand is not that common at present it is gaining some ground due to the fact that natural builders sand is in short supply. As it is aimed as a direct replacement for river sand, its grains are of a similar size and shape. Artificial sand or M-sand used for rendering, laying bricks and blocks and general mortar and masonry work.
Aside from the main or common types of sand above, there are other less common type available that are used mostly in specialist applications:.
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