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Grade Your Sand!

CorneliusSchrute

A leuco by any other name would still be as glutto
I have mentioned in other threads how hard silica sand is to find in my area: none at Lowe's nor the gravel yard even. I have found pool filter sand at a few pool supply places, but all but one only sell the ultra-fine grade sugary-looking stuff.

As I continue my search for usable silica sand, it would be helpful to know which grade of sand the collective you uses. I know courser is better, but what is the coarsest grade you can typically find?

Another question, too, if you have the time: where the heck does one find sand blasting supplies? I have this hunch that a store selling such materials would have the course sand for which I am looking.
 
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I have no idea what grade my sand is but I use the silica filter sand from Leslie's Pool Supply, if that helps in any way.
 
U use a #1 graqde Blasting sand that I get at a somewhat local concrete business. It costs me about $18 for a 100 lb bag. I also had a hard time finding a usable sand and a local grower turned me on to this stuff.

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@lil hokie: I bet that is the stuff I found at the one pool shop that sells courser stuff. Glad to hear it works for you! That gives me confidence.

@kula: That is the Quikrete stuff I have been searching for! No one around me carries that evidently. Plenty of Quikrete concrete mix, though.

@Monkey: Righteous lead, my friend. You say that is a local concrete company, i.e. a place that pours for contract? We have a local concrete company with trucks and the whole bit... perhaps I will hit them up.
 
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That is exactly right, my friend. They usually have several different type of sand that they use and are usually very willing to sell.
 
For reasons I just don't understand the chain hardware stores do not sale coarse/medium sand down here in TX, you may have the same issues. I was able to find the same sand at the chain pool stores for 4X the price. While we were moving down here we bought a few hundred pounds in OK and dragged it down here. So if you cross a state border check there stores.

I've had much better luck with Bonsai nurseries, most of the Japanese are moving to inorganic mixes and when they move over the rest of the world runs off the cliff with them. So I've been able to get a few different materials, silica sand (larger than the pool sand), and lava rock 3/16-5/16 (really like this stuff). They will have the larger particle sizes and is usually pre shifted but it costs more.
 
I once hauled a bucket of sand from a local creek. Very heavy!
 
might also be seasonal. I dont know for certain. They never have it in Hawaii. Ever. Too much weight to ship to Hawaii economically.....
 
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I get this 40# washed play sand bag we sell where I work. The plants seem to like it.
 
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