River sand or quarry sand which is better. What kind of sand is needed for concrete

It is necessary to take care of the purchase of building materials for the preparation of concrete. Pay special attention to the sand. After all, its quality and origin will largely depend on how durable the mortar for laying the base of the dwelling will turn out. Which sand for the foundation is better is described below.

sand, in top layer which contains large third-party substances more than 5 mm, is not suitable for mortar on the foundation.

Material quality

Sand is a loose building material, which belongs to the type of sedimentary rocks. At the same time, it is also obtained artificially - by crushing stone and rubble. But no matter what type of sand you decide to purchase, first of all it must be of high quality, that is, clean. The presence in it of various organic matter - branches, grass, leaves and other things - is unacceptable. Of course, you can always clean up contaminated building material, after sieving it, however, it will take a lot of effort and time to do this. In addition, do not forget that in addition to organic contaminants, sand may contain various impurities: lime, clay, and so on. Their presence in bulk building material is extremely problematic to determine exactly. Especially to clean the sand from them. It is worth remembering that it is allowed to contain impurities only in the amount of 5% of the total mass. If the amount of clay or lime in the sand is higher, this will lead to a deterioration in the strength of concrete, which, in turn, will negatively affect the durability of the finished foundation.

To determine what kind of sand the manufacturer offers you, ideally you need to go to the laboratory for an examination. Only then will you be able to know exact amount impurity content. However, not everyone has the opportunity to do it, because it is expensive. Therefore, it is proposed here to go the other way and check what kind of sand the manufacturer offers you in the field. Many builders use a method that consists in placing a transparent plastic or glass bottle pour on 1/3 of the sand and fill up to half the volume with water. After that, the container is thoroughly shaken so that the loose building material is maximally moistened. Then it is left for 5-7 minutes and then they look at what the water has become. If it is dirty, then it is impossible to make a foundation from such sand. If there are third-party substances on the top layer, the thickness of which is more than 5 mm, then such a building material is also not suitable for building the foundation of a house. If the water remains transparent and there are less than 5 mm of third-party substances in it, or they are completely absent, then it is possible to make a foundation from such sand.

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Material moisture

Quarry sand is mined by destroying rocks, and the quality of such material is very low.

During the purchase of this building material, its moisture content must be taken into account. She may have various meanings. In this case, the optimum humidity is considered to be from 1 to 5%. It is with this that you need to buy sand. To find out given parameter, you can use the following method: take a metal pan, weigh it (in kg), then measure 1 kg of sand on the scales and place it in a container, then put it on the stove and bake it on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring the mixture from time to time . When this process is completed, immediately put the pan on the scales and look at the total mass, and then subtract the weight of the container from it and divide the result by 100. The final figure will be the moisture percentage.

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What kind of sand to choose?

When purchasing sand, you need to know exactly which type of sand is best suited for building the foundation for a house. So, you need to get acquainted with each of its varieties in more detail. They are the following:

River sand, due to the size of fractions from 1.6 to 2.2 mm, is used both for concrete solutions for the foundation, and for interior decoration, and to create drainage systems.

River. Obtained from the bottom of rivers. Its builders consider universal. The sizes of its fractions vary within the following limits: from 1.6 to 2.2 mm. Therefore, it can be used not only for preparing concrete for the foundation, but also for interior decoration, creating drainage systems, and so on. It is important that there are practically no clay impurities in such a building material. Therefore, as a rule, it is not required to check it for their presence. Moreover, it does not contain organic compounds. Accordingly, such sand can be called clean. Because this building material is ideal for the preparation of concrete. Experts recommend making the foundation on the basis of it. But it should be noted that river bulk building material has a relatively high price. This means that you will need to allocate a solid budget for its purchase. If it is not provided, then it will be necessary to make a choice in favor of another type.
Nautical. This type building material is mined from the bottom of the seas. It comes with particles of shells and various impurities. But before delivering it to customers, manufacturers clean it. Therefore, it can be used to build a foundation, after making sure that the manufacturer has conscientiously filtered it from impurities and organic substances.
Career. This type is inferior in quality to the first two. Its extraction is carried out by the destruction of rocks. The purchase of such a building material is always very economical, since the price for it is set extremely low. And if you allocated very little for the construction of the foundation Money, then the acquisition of quarry sand will become great solution. But it will need Special attention pay attention to its quality, since in most cases it leaves much to be desired.

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What fraction of sand to choose?

Such a building material as sand is divided into several types according to fractions. Grading looks like this:

Very thin - fractions of sand grains do not exceed 0.7 mm. Such a building material is unsuitable for building a foundation, as it will turn out with minimal strength.
Thin - fractions from 0.7 to 1 mm. Builders do not recommend the use of this material for the preparation of concrete. It will not have a good density.
Very fine - the size of the fractions up to 1.5 mm. It can be used to create a foundation, but keep in mind that it will not have very high performance.
Small - the size of the fractions is from 1.5 to 2 mm. It is not well suited for preparing concrete, as it requires a large amount of cement to create it, which leads to an increase in the cost of building a foundation.
Medium - the size of the fraction is from 2 to 2.5 mm. Ideal for building a foundation. It is his specialists in the field of construction that recommend using it. Therefore, it is worth stopping your choice on such sand.
Large - fractions up to 3 mm. This material is used exclusively for the preparation of high-quality concrete. Making a conventional solution out of it is unprofitable.
Increased size - fractions up to 3.5 mm. With the help of it, they create foundations on the sand, that is, they make pillows necessary to increase the strength of the foundation of the building and uniform distribution loads.

When choosing sand, you need to pay attention to its edges. They must be sharp, since a material with such a shape increases the astringent qualities of the concrete solution.

What kind of sand is needed for concrete, plaster or bricklaying. See which is better, river or career.

This kind of sand is being cleaned naturally, all impurities are washed out of it. Sometimes it is also found under the name "washed". The particle size of river sand, as a rule, is from 0.3 to 0.5 mm.

Attention! !

Quarry sand

Particles of quarry sand are much smaller than those of river sand. Fraction from 0.6 to 3.2 mm. Quite often, clay or even grass and tree roots are present in the sand from the quarry (usually when the quarry is expanded)

Which sand is best

It all depends on the goal.

For masonry. It is better to use quarry sand, it does not “settle” so quickly in the solution. The solution is more plastic, due to the presence of clay.

For screed. River is almost always used, it often contains very small pebbles, which provide additional volumetric reinforcement.

For concrete. From concrete structures high strength is always required. Clay increases ductility, but at the same time greatly reduces strength, respectively, it is better not to use quarry sand. For the preparation of concrete, it is better to buy river sand, of course, you will need to add crushed stone.

For plaster. Career in this case is more suitable, clay inclusions are not so critical, since increased strength is not required, and a fine fraction allows you to get a smoother surface.

Sand is one of the most important components of the concrete mixture required for the construction of the foundation. This loose building material belongs to the type of sedimentary rocks. Sand is also obtained artificially - by crushing crushed stone or stone.

Due to some differences in the building material, the question is what kind of sand is needed to fill the foundation? - extremely relevant among developers. In this article we will try to give an exhaustive answer to it.

A little theory...

Even a person who is not familiar with the various nuances of the construction business, it is clear that clean sand is needed for the foundation. The presence of various kinds of organic matter (grass, branches, etc.) is unacceptable. However, it is not difficult to clean sand from organic matter: just sift it.

Things are worse with impurities: clay, lime, and so on. Determining the presence of contamination in this case is quite problematic. Such impurities as clay in the sand used to fill the foundation should not be more than five percent of the total mass. If there is more clay, this will lead to a decrease in the reliability of the finished structure..

To test the purity of the sand in the field, builders use a glass or plastic transparent container.

Sand is poured into an ordinary bottle by a third and filled with water to half the volume. Now you need to shake the bottle, achieving the maximum moistening of the sand, and leave it alone for five minutes. If the water remains dirty after this procedure, such sand is not suitable for building a foundation.

Sand is also not suitable, on the upper layer of which a third-party substance is formed with a thickness of more than five millimeters.

Varieties of building sand

When choosing sand for the foundation, it is necessary to take into account not only the size of the fractions (grains), but also the characteristics of the material, which vary depending on the type.

The main types of sand are:

River.
Nautical.
Career.

river sand

This material is extracted from the bottom of the river and is considered universal. The size of the river sand fraction is from 1.6 to 2.2 mm, which allows it to be used not only for pouring the foundation, but also as a material for equipment drainage system, when decorating rooms, etc. River sand has practically no clay impurities.

Sea sand

Sand is mined from the seabed, then cleaned of shell fragments and other impurities. This material is considered an excellent component in the construction of reinforced concrete structures, due to the extremely small size of the fractions: only one millimeter.

Just like river sand, sea sand is considered extremely clean, as it goes through certain stages of washing and cleaning before use.

Quarry sand

Quarry sand, of course, is not as good in quality as river or sea sand, but it has an important advantage: cheapness. Quarry sand is mined by the method of destruction of rocks. One of the varieties of such material is mountain sand.

It is difficult to unequivocally answer the question which type of sand is optimal for the foundation. It all depends on the type of building being built. specifications and so on. Many builders recommend taking the most inexpensive sand - quarry sand, believing that the quality of the building will not suffer much from this.

In terms of functionality, the best sand for the foundation will be river containing a minimum amount of fine fractions. Depending on the size of the fractions, sand is divided into:

Very thin (grain size does not exceed 0.7 mm). Such sand is not suitable for building a foundation.
Thin (from 0.7 to one millimeter). The material is not recommended for use for pouring the foundation.
Very small (fraction size up to 1.5 mm). It is better not to use for the preparation of concrete.
Small (from 1.5 to 2 millimeters). Not suitable for building foundations.
Medium sand (fraction size - from two to 2.5 millimeters). Ideal for making concrete in foundation construction.
Coarse sand (up to three millimeters) - used for high-quality concrete.
Increased size (up to 3.5 mm) - recommended as a pillow under the foundation.

It is best to buy sand on the spot: straight from the quarry. The best option is to pick up screened and washed quarry sand with a fineness modulus of 2 to 2.5 millimeters. Particles of such sand have sharp edges, which increases the binding properties of concrete.

Suppliers often underweight a batch of material, so weighing should be controlled for both empty and loaded truck weights. The accompanying documentation should indicate the density of the sand, the ideal density for this material is 1.5 tons / cubic meter.

Low density indicates excessive wetting of the sand; high - about the presence of impurities.

As for the price of sand, the cost of a cube depends on factors such as the volume of the order and the cost of transportation. The further the supplier has to carry the sand, the more expensive it will be. In the Moscow region, the cost of a cubic meter of sand without delivery ranges from two hundred to two hundred and fifty rubles. If you order sand with delivery, then for five cubes of material you will have to pay about three thousand rubles.

How much sand is needed for under the house?

Construction experts say that the best recipe the mortar for the foundation is 1 to 5, that is, one part of cement to five parts of sand. In this case, the proportions of materials are not affected by either the size of the fractions or the type of sand.

In principle, the answer to the question - how much sand is needed for the foundation of a house? - should be decided based on the individual characteristics of the future structure, however, the above recipe should be considered universal.

Many builders add crushed stone to the mixture, in which case the final composition of concrete will be as follows: 1: 3: 5 (part of cement, three parts of crushed stone, five parts of sand). As you can see, in the construction of the foundation, in any case, sand is required more than other components. But often for many types of bases for houses it is necessary to build a special sand cushion.

The foundation, as you know, is the basis of any building, be it private house, country house or country cottage. Construction must be approached as scrupulously as possible, carefully choosing necessary components. This is especially true for materials such as sand.

Before starting construction, many are wondering what kind of sand is needed for the foundation. The sand mixture is the main component of the concrete mixture and the strength of the foundation and the entire future building depends on its choice. Let's look at the main questions that will help to cope with the choice.

Let's talk frankly

Even a person who is ignorant of construction understands one thing: a high-quality foundation will not work out of dirty sand. And therefore, first of all, it should not contain various impurities. These include:

Grass, or branches. It is easy to deal with such debris by simply sifting sand for the foundation.
Clay. Here things are more complicated, in the sand mass no more than 5% of clay from the total mass is permissible, otherwise the concrete strength will be lower.
Gravel. In principle, one can turn a blind eye to this component, but only if its constituent share is no more than 0.5–0.7%, and the fractions are no more than 10 mm in size.

Of course, you can save on the purity of the material, and, having purchased low-quality sand, sift it before work. But think about whether you need it, because such work will take quite a long time and take a lot of your strength.

Quality material - a strong foundation

To check the sand for cleanliness yourself, you will need a transparent bottle. In 1/3 part of it, you need to pour the sand chosen for the foundation, and, after pouring water, shake it well. Then leave the bottle for 5-7 minutes and check the purity of the water. If it is dirty, then the quality of the sand is not at the best level.

You also need to pay attention to the size of the fractions. sand mixture. And not all sand is suitable for mixing concrete under the foundation. Sand is like this:

Very small. Fraction size within 1.0-1.7.
Small. Particles of such sand are 1.5-2.2.

Medium size. Granules 2.0-2.6 are the most the best way for the preparation of concrete for the foundation.
Large. The particles of this material are 3.5 such sand is well suited for a pillow.
Thin and very thin. Such sand is not recommended for the preparation of concrete for the foundation.

So, the trench is ready, we figured out the purity and size of the sand mixture, it remains to talk about the types. Sand is conditionally divided into four types and each of them is better suited for a particular job.

lake sand

It is extracted from the bottom of large lakes and is in first place in terms of organic impurities. In this regard, before mixing concrete under the foundation, it must be washed.

In principle, a good option, but the fact that it must be washed before use puts the consumer before another choice.

This option is cleaner, because it is washed natural way. Its composition is homogeneous and balanced, and relatively small size fractions indicate the feasibility of using it to prepare the foundation.

Sea sand

This material is mined from the bottom of the sea, and therefore its price is relatively high. But in terms of composition and purity, this is the best option.

Quarry sand

This is the most cheap material, it is mined in quarries naturally or by crushing. This is not the best option for the foundation, because before work it, like the lake, requires preliminary cleaning. Its main advantage is cheapness.

Based on the above qualities of materials, we can say that the river type of sand mixture is the most best option, to prepare concrete mix for the foundation.

If you have any additions to this article, then you can leave them below and help readers with the choice of material.

V modern construction sand is used very actively and almost everywhere. At the same time, there are about 10 different varieties of this material, but in the practice of Russian builders, two types are most common: quarry and river. Naturally, each type has those properties that determine its advantages and disadvantages as a building or finishing material. Therefore, non-professionals who decide to build some kind of structure on their own often face a choice:

Quarry sand - advantages and disadvantages

Quarry is called sand, mined in quarries, from huge layers located at a certain depth underground. The quality of such sand is largely determined by its origin. The fact is that such underground sand is formed as a result of weathering of rocks. This process has been going on for centuries, decay products are deposited underground, eventually turning into caked masses of sand.

The formation of sand deposits results from the weathering of rocks such as mica, quartz, feldspar and partly limestone. The composition and characteristics of the sand depend on which rocks prevail in a particular area.

What must be taken into account when deciding which sand is better than quarry or river sand is the possible presence of impurities in the total mass of natural material. Clay contamination for quarry sands is a common phenomenon and only the concentration of foreign matter differs depending on the deposit.

Another important characteristic is the heterogeneity of fractions. In the mass of quarry sand, there are both very small and very large particles, often fragments come across in it, which, in terms of size, can be attributed to fine gravel. However, in the case of using sand for construction purposes, this property cannot be called a minus. The fact is that the heterogeneity of sand fractions and the presence of various impurities in it causes higher binding characteristics of sand.

So let's sum it up. Quarry sand is characterized by increased surface roughness of the particles, as well as the angularity of their shape.. This makes it excellent for use as an additional bonding agent for binders in formulations. building mixtures. There are also construction areas in which it is recommended to use quarry sand. It makes an excellent pillow under the recessed strip foundation. From this point of view, no other variety can be compared with quarry sand.

River sand - pros and cons

Now let's look at the main characteristics and properties of river sand in order to try to answer the question of which sand is better than quarry or river sand by comparison. River sand, as its name suggests, is mined from riverbeds. This circumstance is due to extremely low content of various impurities in it especially clay rocks and loams. They are simply washed away by the current, which provides natural cleaning sand.

Also, the constant exposure to water to which river sand is exposed leads to the fact that it the particles are approximately the same size and almost perfectly rounded shape. Due to this, this material is actively used in landscape design to create the desired decorative effect.

One of the advantages of the material is the fact that for the arrangement of children's sandboxes or volleyball courts, it is imperative to use river sand.

If we talk about construction, then the main properties of river sand, in addition to shape and size, should be recognized as low ability to absorb and retain moisture, as well as environmental cleanliness and safety.

Given all this, river sand is used mainly to obtain decorative finishing materials. For example, if on the floor in the house it is planned to arrange cement screed, then for these purposes better fit river sand. It will not accumulate moisture in itself, and will also help to obtain a more even and smooth surface of the coating.

For the same reasons, river sand is the preferred material for making paving slabs. In Krasnoyarsk, it is also used in the construction of drainage and filtering systems.

In fact, the only, but very significant minus of river sand as a building material is high price. The process of its extraction is associated with the use of complex expensive equipment; special barges and powerful hydraulic pumps are required to lift rock layers from the bottom of the channel and subsequently flush it. As a result, the cost of the final product is very high.

It is precisely because of the significant cost that when deciding which sand is better than quarry or river sand, builders often prefer the first. The issue of price becomes especially relevant when carrying out draft construction works for example, laying foundations, creating open areas for cars, etc. But for finishing works, especially internal, it is recommended not to save and choose river sand, the use of which provides a better result.

Our company is engaged in retail and wholesale deliveries of river and quarry sand in Krasnoyarsk. For more information and ordering delivery, call the phone number listed on the "" page.

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