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Sand calculator: building sand and sharp sand in bulk bags
Pick the job, put in the size, and see how much sand to order and which kind. Building (soft) sand goes in mortar; sharp sand goes in render, screed and under paving. A bulk bag is about 800kg, not a tonne, so the bag count is worked out on that.
What you need
To order
- Building sand (soft sand)
- 1 bulk bags (~800 kg)600kg of mortar for 600 bricks at M4 (1:6)Tarmac Blue Circle QA mortar yields
Working figures
- Sand by weight
- 0.57 tonnes566kg, with 10% extra
- Or in 25kg bags
- 23 bags
- Or in bulk bags
- 1 bulk bags (~800 kg)
Round up to whole packs and bags. Figures include the wastage you chose and match TradeCalc in the app.
For bricklayers: turn this into a quote
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Or claim your free profile link nowHow the maths works
- Building sand, also called soft sand, is fine and rounded: it makes mortar workable. Sharp sand is coarser and angular: it goes in render, screed, concrete and under paving. Use the wrong one and the job suffers.
- Brickwork and blockwork sand is worked out from the mortar (about 1kg a brick, or 0.012 to 0.024m³ per m² of blockwork) at M4 with plasticiser, 1:6, so six parts in seven are sand. With lime at 1:1:6 you need a little less sand.
- Two-coat sand and cement render takes about 27kg of sharp sand a square metre (a 16mm scratch coat and a 6mm top coat). A block paving laying course is 50mm of sharp sand loose, about 35mm once compacted.
- A bulk bag is about 800kg, not a tonne: Selco quote 750 to 850kg and the BMF minimum is 800kg. Merchants weigh by the tonne on a loose load, by the bag otherwise.
Worked example
10m² of half-brick wall is 600 bricks, about 600kg of mortar and 0.57 tonnes of building sand with 10% extra: one bulk bag, or 23 bags of 25kg. The same 10m² rendered in two coats takes about 300kg of sharp sand and 3 bags of cement.
Questions people ask
How much does a bulk bag of sand weigh?
About 800kg, not a tonne. Merchants such as Selco quote 750 to 850kg, and the Builders Merchants Federation minimum is 800kg. Wet sand weighs more for the same volume, so a bag delivered wet holds less sand.
Building sand or sharp sand?
Building (soft) sand for bricklaying mortar. Sharp sand for render, floor screed, concrete and paving. Some plasterers use a mix of the two for render; follow the render maker’s guidance.
How much sand for 1,000 bricks?
About 860kg of building sand at M4 with plasticiser (1:6), just over one bulk bag, or about 940kg with 10% extra. With lime at 1:1:6 it is about 750kg.
How much sand under block paving?
A 50mm laying course of sharp sand, about 80kg a square metre loose. A 40m² drive needs about 3.5 tonnes with 10% extra, so five bulk bags.
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