Very good in depth answer mate. Leighton buzzard is still the best in herts if you can get it. Maybe called something else in other parts of the country and i am not too sure sure of the actual composite of it. Much the texture of of 3 parts sharp and 1 soft.varies everywhere mate, experience will tell u if its good sand..
some builders merchants will send out a real soft sand as 'building sand' wheras others will be slightly coarser, 'sharp' is coarser still and next up from that comes 'ballast' (for concreting)
its the size of the grain which makes it soft or sharp...the softest is 'silver' sand used to fill in block paving...
'washed plastering sand' is generally a medium grain sand sort of halfway between silver and sharp with all the clay rinsed out of it...the clay is just an impurity....
the less shite mixed in with the sand the better the quality...
depends on how much you got to do, any more than about 20-30 metres your prolly better off ringing the local aggregate supplier and gettin a 4 ton minimum drop, itll be ok...if not, assuming the builders merchants 'building' sand aint too soft use that...
i tend to check the sand first, then if need be ill mix it up with some sharp for the scratch coat...if find sharp gives up its water easier and sticks better, but it goes off sharpish too..thats why i only use it in the scratch...
thats it exactly...i like to think 'if the brickies love it, its shite for plastering'Very good  in depth answer mate. Leighton buzzard is still the best in herts if you can get it. Maybe called something else in other parts of the country and i am not too sure sure of the actual composite of it. Much the texture of  of 3 parts sharp and 1 soft.varies everywhere mate, experience will tell u if its good sand..
some builders merchants will send out a real soft sand as 'building sand' wheras others will be slightly coarser, 'sharp' is coarser still and next up from that comes 'ballast' (for concreting)
its the size of the grain which makes it soft or sharp...the softest is 'silver' sand used to fill in block paving...
'washed plastering sand' is generally a medium grain sand sort of halfway between silver and sharp with all the clay rinsed out of it...the clay is just an impurity....
the less shite mixed in with the sand the better the quality...
depends on how much you got to do, any more than about 20-30 metres your prolly better off ringing the local aggregate supplier and gettin a 4 ton minimum drop, itll be ok...if not, assuming the builders merchants 'building' sand aint too soft use that...
i tend to check the sand first, then if need be ill mix it up with some sharp for the scratch coat...if find sharp gives up its water easier and sticks better, but it goes off sharpish too..thats why i only use it in the scratch...
i usually work at 0.6 cubic metres to a 'ton bag' (which isnt a ton :-?)Just on an average basis assuming that thers no hollows to dub out & the block or brickwork is flat, What is the genral meterage a 1 tonne of  plastering sand will cover (scratch & top coat)  at a 5 to 1 ratio ?
Just on an average basis assuming that thers no hollows to dub out & the block or brickwork is flat, What is the genral meterage a 1 tonne of  plastering sand will cover (scratch & top coat)  at a 5 to 1 ratio ?
when im skimming i have days when i just look at the set size, windows, hollows, beads the lot and put bang on the right amount of water in so im just scraping the very last bit out the bucket to finish layin on...i'm a messy b*****d i used 9 bags of hardwall today and carried two back out in waste  ;D....need to ask the boss for a couple more bags now to finish the job .... oops  :-[
i did a private job saturday and the customers were between 40 - 50, they were on the computer playing lord of the rings from 8.30 till 5.30 still hard at it till i left ;D the house was a right mess no cups of teawhen im skimming i have days when i just look at the set size, windows, hollows, beads the lot and put bang on the right amount of water in so im just scraping the very last bit out the bucket to finish layin on...i'm a messy b*****d i used 9 bags of hardwall today and carried two back out in waste  ;D....need to ask the boss for a couple more bags now to finish the job .... oops  :-[
then i have other days when ive thrown out best part of half a bag a set cos i aint prepped anything else...worse thing is gettin rid of it after cos if your in a customers house you gotta take it home with u...bags you can burn, f'cking great lumps of set skim have to go down the tip disguised as 'general household waste' in a double black bin liner wanting to split like an aldi carrier bag.. :-[
they prolly told the last plasterer to pour the washout down the bog..thats why you couldnt use it!! ;Di did a private job saturday and the customers were between 40 - 50, they were on the computer playing lord of the rings from 8.30 till 5.30 still hard at it till i left  ;D  the house was a right mess no cups of tea Âwhen im skimming i have days when i just look at the set size, windows, hollows, beads the lot and put bang on the right amount of water in so im just scraping the very last bit out the bucket to finish layin on...i'm a messy b*****d i used 9 bags of hardwall today and carried two back out in waste  ;D....need to ask the boss for a couple more bags now to finish the job .... oops  :-[
then i have other days when ive thrown out best part of half a bag a set cos i aint prepped anything else...worse thing is gettin rid of it after cos if your in a customers house you gotta take it home with u...bags you can burn, f'cking great lumps of set skim have to go down the tip disguised as 'general household waste' in a double black bin liner wanting to split like an aldi carrier bag.. :-[i said can i use the toilet and they told me i had to use the bog in the local car park ......which shuts at 5 so god knows what there doing after that , then when i asked if i could pour the top of the dirty water off in the corner of the garden she told me to just pour it down the sink bless em ........fast sets mind all that heat of the computers  ;D