17/03/2013
Assess the Quality of Sand Used for Your Home Construction
A well-built home is not only meant to have good appearance, it should also have good strength and support. What is the use of having a beautiful home lacking proper structure or strength? If you are looking for such a well-built dream home, you need to purchase your home from a professional builder. A good builder indeed provides the best solutions in your home construction project. But remember, there are many shady builders out there trying to push in ordinary materials in every aspect of the construction to save few bucks.
However, you can check the quality of the builders by having a look on their previously built properties. You need to make sure that better building materials are being used for the construction. Assessing the quality of sand is a great idea to ensure the best construction. Sand is said to have more impact on the strength of the construction. The building may develop cracks or damages with use of improper quality of sand.
Various gradings of sand
The size of the particles or granules of sand ranges from 1/16mm to 2mm. Based on the size of the particles, the sand can be classified as fine, medium and coarse. The particles of fine sand are much smaller when compared to the other types. However, each of them has their own purpose in construction. The coarse sand is used for constructing pillars and underground tanks, while the medium sand is used for the first layer of plastering and other works. The final finish of plastering includes the use of fine sand.
Pit coarse sand obtained from quarries is used in the construction of houses in urban areas of Hyderabad. It is filtered when required for specific uses in construction such as plastering.
Features of good quality sand
Like any other material, there are certain features that determine the quality of sand. Good quality sand should not possess more than 4% of silt content. It should have natural and crushed stone sand. It must be free from organic matter and other dirt particles
How to check the quality of sand
Many of us do not know the quality, features, and measurements of good sand. Many builders/suppliers make an advantage of this by providing a cheap rate load and may tell that it is of good quality.
However, there are certain ways which help you in knowing the quality of sand. Take some quantity of sand and put it in a glass of water. Shake it well and allow it to settle. If a distinct layer of clay or impurities is formed at the top of the sand, it can be considered as of low quality. The other way of assessing the quality is to add sodium hydroxide or caustic soda to sand solution. The presence of impurities in the sand is detected by the color change of the solution.
Clay and silt content present in the sand also affects its quality. Here is another idea for assessing the quality of sand. When you rub the sand sample between damp hands, clean sand will leave the hands slightly stained. If the hands are left dirty, it indicates the presence of too much silt or clay in the sand.
Still if you find it difficult to check the quality of sand, get help or take suggestions from the people who have constructed houses. Taking a few risks in assessing the quality of sand is better to avoid any future damages to the building.
