Salt-free sand in construction | Premix Plaster manufacturing in India

Good quality sand should be clean, organic matter free, and should have good particle size based on the intended application. Also, it should be free from contaminants such as salt. There has been a long debate if desert sand or sea sand can be used for construction. But it might not be a good idea due to several reasons. The critical factor regarding choosing sand for building construction is to have a check on the proportion of rocks and other impurities present in the sand. Most of them make the sand less stable for construction. Salt is one of those impurities.

Sands of wide varieties, including river sand, concrete sand, fill sand, coarse sand, utility sand, pit sand, fine sand, and M-sand, are used in construction. These sands differ in terms of stiffness, particle coarseness, and other characteristics.

Why use salt-free sand in construction:

All these sand types should be free from impurities.

Weaker bonds: If your sand has salt, you need to be careful and wash the sand before it is used. Otherwise, when the concrete cures, it will form crystals inside the construction. Thus, the adhesion bonds between sand and rods/metals get weaker.

Absorption of water: When salts are put into concrete, the extra water they draw into the concrete’s pore structure can increase by up to 10%. Consequently, the pore structure has less capacity for expansion, which expands pressure inside the concrete when it freezes and makes the surface crumbly and flaky. This incident is known as ‘spalling’.

Corrosion of your structure: Additional sulphates may be present in your sand. Because salt has a larger chloride percentage, it corrodes the steel. The corrosion can also spread to other locations and causes the project to collapse. Corrosion is a major problem that should be monitored. Salts can cause sand particles’ edges to become rounded rather than sharp owing to erosion, which reduces the strength of the concrete. As a result, it could not be immune to pollution and acid rain. When salt % exceeds a specific quantity, rusting becomes the main problem.

Financial drawbacks: Washing the sand is also not an easy option as it can increase the project’s cost by manifold.

Environmental damage: In addition to the purely economic costs associated with procurement and cleaning, removing sand from the beach and the seabed definitely has an impact on the environment.

It would be best if you always used salt-free sand in construction. When using sand, be sure to check the certification and technical data sheets with details of organic matter components, salts, and other contaminants.

Our company soundbuidcare takes care of these important details. Clients trust us to provide the best quality products. Our products use great quality sand, such as graded silica sand when making ready mix plaster, multipurpose tile adhesive, and mortars. This company has three manufacturing sites with an expert R&D team. We also comply with BS, ASTM and ANSI requirements and take certification and compliance seriously.