Making a sand pit.

[Chris Bacon]

That's a useful idea. Might stop 'em surprising someone in 'Stralia, too. Can't have the sand too deep, for safety reasons.

[Guy King]

The message from Chris Bacon contains these words:

Next time you're at the beach, come back with a bucket of seashells - the kids love finding treasures in the sand.

[Bob Mannix]

What you really want is "silver sand" if you want stuff that flows. It's washed and clean and as close to play sand as you can get (ie it's the same) but you can buy it at sand and gravel merchants (if you are lucjky enough to have one near). We do and I just loaded up a trrailer with my own shovel. It was enormously cheaper than the little bags.

[Chris Bacon]

I've been thinking of using Caberfloor P5 for the sides (22mm thick) with 2x2 battens screwed to the top, also to hold the pieces together at the corners, and decking timber for the top of the sides:

Section:

=== === deck timber #|.............. # batten |.............. | caberfloor |............... . sand @@@@~|............... ~ Terram @@@~|................ @ soil @@@~|................ @@@~|................ @@@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Plan:

--------------- #| |# | | #| |# ---------------

That'd give something to sit on as per your useful suggestion.

Not sure about the longevity of Caberfloor under these circumstances, but I've had a piece outside in the wind and rain for about a year, and it doesn't appear to have deteriorated. The soil is generally very dry.

I could use washed sharp sand, I suppose...

If I make it 8' (nearly) by 4' I'd need 3 sheets of Caberfloor,

• the deck timber & 2x2s, and 1.5m cubed of sand (2 bags?)! I wonder whether that would be big enough...

[Glenn Booth]

Who needs to mine it? My five year old can fit about 4cwt in his pants without even trying. About two trips and he could fill a skip.

Regards,

Glenn.

[Will Dean]

I know kids are notoriously expensive, but that's just absurd.

Will

[Squeakywee]

FIL built Start it off like a pond - dig it out as far into the ground as you want it and as wide as you want it. Fill the bottom with stones (like the stones you see on people's driveways - not quite gravel and not quite rocks). Put pond lino over the top and secure it around with paving slabs (or whatever else you can think of to secure it with. FIL used paving slabs but they don't sound all that safe to me!).

Once the lino is laid, cut a hole in the middle of it. Find a ceramic plant pot with drainage holes in the bottom, fill it with more stones and put it in the hole. This is very important for drainage as it allows any water to drain away but doesn't let worms and things back up into the sand. After that, just fill it with sand.

You really do need it to be covered and sealed when its not in use, otherwise it just goes manky and the colour of soil, and gets filled with worms, leaves and cat poop. OH said his didn't have a lid on and by the time the next summer came around it had to be refilled etc.

HTH :)

Kat

[Owain]

Or bury their pocket money - keep them occupied for ages.

Owain

[Chris Bacon]

That's a nice idea, Mr. King - thanks. I suppose I will be forced to organise a special trip....

Oh!

[Andy Dingley]

That's because you don't have a sandpit yet.

If you build it, they will come. And they'll leave you souvenirs.

[Jim Scott]

More than that, they will ALL come to make sure they make it their territory.

[Holly, in France]

As far as I can tell, the washed, bagged sand sold for pool filters, sandblasting (sorry to mention that word Chris!) etc is the same as the stuff sold as play sand but cheaper. Compare it to whatever suitable sand your builders merchant has on offer.

-- Holly, in France Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.

[Phil Armstrong]

Just don't get sharp sand (for making concrete etc etc); you need soft sand (or whatever builders call it).

Phil

[Guy King]

The message from Phil Armstrong contains these words:

Soft sand stains really badly - it's got a lot of fines in it - almost clay. This is what makes it so stable when firmly compacted.

I've yet to find a good substitue for "real" play sand - apart from beach sand.

[Mark Spice]

I got washed sand (plasterer's I think) from the builders' merchant. Half the price of 'official' playpit sand and just as good bearing in mind that within about 5 nanoseconds of use it was full of grit and shingle from the garden.

Cheers

Mark

[Roly]

You need to choose between two types of sand.

There is the dry sort which runs freely and works with some sort of sand toys such as sand wheels.

The other sort of sand is often called wet sand, it's what works best for making sand castles etc ,as it stays put when moulded.

Not all types of sand seem to work equally well as wet or dry sand. If you can find a grade that can be used equally well either way, you'll have done well.

[Chris Bacon]

Why not washed sharp sand?

[Steve Firth]

There's a BS something or other product which is crushed glass. It's safe to handle and has been crushed and screened so that it's no more damaging than sandpaper (which also uses crushed glass).

Back in out play pit constructing days we used to use silver sand, which is simply a fine white sand. I think it is dredged from the sea, washed and screened.

[John Stumbles]

Geotextile (non-woven polyethylene/polyproplylene sheet) is good for membrane. It's very tough but lets water through. Trouble is you can usually only get either huge rolls or packs of smallish pieces, and you really want to cover the base of your sandpit in one piece. (If you're in the Reading area I've got best part of a 25m roll about 3m wide .... in fact if you want some anywhere else I could cut some and post it - it's pretty light.)

[Phil Armstrong]

It's called sharp for a reason!

Scratchy, itchy stuff.

Have you never noticed that at some beaches, the sand is just comfortable to mess around with, whilst at others it's irritating and sratchy?

Have a look at some bits of sharp sand and soft under a microscope and you'll see why...

Phil