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Best sand for sandboxes?
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Posted by gotj Newton, MA (My Page) on Mon, Aug 29, 05 at 13:32
| I'm putting together a sandbox for our kids, and I'm wondering what the best sand to use is. Ideally, I'd like something that is:
•Soft, pleasant to the touch
•Moldable, for building castles, etc.
•Low-dust
I understand there may be tradeoffs among these three, but I'm looking for the best overall solution.
I've had some dealers here locally recommend mason's sand (sometimes referred to as brick sand, I believe). Another said that mason's sand is too dusty, and recommended concrete sand.
We need about one ton of it, so I'll probably go with someone who can deliver (as opposed to buying it by the bag at Home Depot, etc.).
(We have a mesh cover to let water in but keep leaves, cats, etc. out. And I'll line the bottom with landscapring cloth.)
Any thoughts or recommendations? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Best sand for sandboxes?
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| I like beach sand the best. Builders sand is very course and kind of hurts. |
RE: Best sand for sandboxes?
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| If you can get beach sand I'd think that would be the best. We have mason sand in our sand box and it works great. It is a bit dusty at first, but the first soaking rain seems to stop that. It's REALLY cheap too especially if you have a pick-up, which is good since it washes away slowly and you'll need to refill it every 2-3 years. Our children have a ball in the sand box- and next year we're expanding it from 6x6 to 12x8 so the boys will have more room for their tunnels and roads and volcanos. |
RE: Best sand for sandboxes?
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- Posted by gotj Newton, MA (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 6, 05 at 9:56
| Thanks for the replies, folks. This may be a dumb question, but where do you get beach sand? Do you go to the beach and take it (doesn't seem like a good idea)? Or can you buy it? I think we'll have to have whatever we get delivered, since we don't have easy access to a pickup truck. |
RE: Best sand for sandboxes?
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| actually, the best sand to use for a sand box is one that has NO dust or fine crystalline. These are known carcinogenics for children and is the primary reason you don't see sand at any playgrounds anymore. Places like Home Depot and Lowe's and even Toys-r-us carry sand that has been washed, screened and dried and is free of dust so it is the safest for your children to play in. We bought the Quikrete playsand from Lowe's and it has worked great! I wet it down before letting my kids play in it and they will generally play in it for hours! If it's an especially warm day, than I wet it down multiple times/ day. Beach sand is going to have a lot of contaminates in it and Masonry sand is going to have a lot of dust, so I wouldn't recommend either of those. |
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