Perth is quite literally built on sand, landscaped and built with it, and its residents are constantly buying it up for projects all across the north and south suburbs. But the notion that all sand is equal, that any one type will do just as it does another, is a pretty damaging assumption to make on actual job sites. Choosing the wrong sand in a paving bed means you’ll get uneven surfaces. The wrong sand under a slab means you’ll get cracking and shifts in the foundation. And an arena surface made with the wrong sand is just plain unsafe. Of course, it’s not too complicated to get it right, but there is a bit of an art to knowing your sand, especially when you look at the pictures and they all look so similar.
The Perth Sand Range: What Each Type Is Actually Meant For
The sand products that come from Perth suppliers are all calibrated to specific jobs. The core different types of sand break down to:
- Brickies sand contains a bit of clay that makes mortar all easy to work with; its perfect for moving bricks around and making joints but completely wrong to use for paving or drainage where you don’t want the clay hanging around.
- Plastering sand is a clean product that’s been washed to get all the clay and silt out; it’s what you want to use for your plaster jobs.
- Coarse river sand has big rounded grains that do a great job of letting water pass through while still being tough enough to hold paving bedding in place.
- Fill sand this is the big batch sand that gets used for making sand pads, levelling sub bases and shovelling earth around; it’s all about getting the volume in there and getting it to compact without worrying about any fancy structural characteristics.
You can swap out brickies sand for a paving bedding job and before you know it you’ve got uneven paving that’s soaking up water and causing it to move around within the first season and that’s always more expensive to fix than just getting it right in the first place.
Sand Pads: The Base Is Way More Important Than Most People Let On
Perth’s construction industry can’t get by without sand pads as the standard way to lay slabs for most houses in the area. A sand pad is more than just a bit of material to put under your concrete it’s a bit of engineering that keeps moisture out, ensures the slab sits flat and makes sure the whole thing performs well over its lifetime.
Sand supplies Wangara is a search that comes up a lot for contractors in the northern suburbs looking for sand for residential slabs. What you want is some clean, well graded fill sand that compacts properly, lets water drain through to the outside and stays put under the weight of the slab. Fine sand or sand with clay in it will just cause problems with the foundation. And a sand pad that’s not compacted properly is just leaving a bunch of holes that will only get worse once the slab is all finished.
Where Earthmoving And Sand Supply Overlap?
Large residential and light commercial constructions may end up producing excavated material which needs to leave the construction site as well as clean fill or pad sand is needed to enter the site. In cases where suppliers have combined their capabilities of supplying materials along with earthmoving services, this overlap will lead to a reduction of subcontractors in the construction process as well as project scheduling.
Mobilizing one team for the removal of the excavated material from the site and the delivery of the inbound fill sand to the site in one mobilization can reduce truck movements and cost. The excavation of trenches and drainage systems in addition to the excavation of the site-cutting may also happen in one operation. Quotes which include supply of the material along with the site preparation may be more economical than dealing with the two separately.
For owner builders or project managers dealing with multiple subcontractors, combining the activities in a single operation where one supplier will be handling both is going to simplify their job greatly. Building industry licensing and compliance obligations in WA are overseen by DMIRS, which is worth checking if you’re coordinating multiple trades on a project.
Equestrian Sand: A Particular Application In Perth’s Outer Northern Suburbs
In Perth’s outer northern residential areas, there are properties having hobby farms and equestrian arena sand is one particular type of sand among the other types included under the general sand supplies Wangara. The horses’ arenas need particular sand which is not available in the landscaping or fill sands.
Logistics Of Delivering Sands In Wangara And Northern Suburbs
Delivering sand in Wangara and northern suburbs in Perth requires consideration of logistics such as:
- Minimum orders must be confirmed prior to the scheduling; most of the suppliers have a minimum quantity of material for an order and anything lower than that would be not possible and will result in extra charges.
- The lead times in peak construction seasons are larger than expected and ordering ahead of the construction schedule is always the best way.
- Site preparation for the delivery is vital; make sure that the truck can be loaded and unloaded easily by preparing the site before booking for the delivery service.
