In terms of colouring, builders sand normally tends to be a light grey colour and can in some instances appear almost white. Apart from sand, silica is found in a great many other materials, both naturally occurring and man-made materials. Some of these include quartz (one of its most common occurrences), clay, glass, silica gels and also in some food stuffs and medicines. Next, pour 50ml of the solution into a measuring jug and then add your sand sample so that it reaches the 50ml mark on your measuring jug. After another trip to the builders merchant you then discover the only builders sand they have is a red colour which results in your mortar being two different colours, leaving you in the quandary of whether to just use it as it is or try and colour match it using a mortar tone or other colouring method. We briefly mentioned above that the silt content of pretty much any sand used in construction should not be greater than 4%.

Different Types of Sand and What They Should be Used for Different Types of Sand and What They Should be Used for

Aside from the size and shape of grain and where the sand originated from another very important fact that should be considered is how clean the sand actually is. By this we mean establishing its silt content. One other issue is that it also contains chloride and if you have ever witnessed an old piece of metal that’s been exposed to sea air for a period of time, you may have noticed that it’s probably heavily corroded (rusty).

Why Does Sand Come in Different Colours?

Keeping with the theme of the name describing where a given type of sand is sourced from, jointing sand or beach sand is collected mostly from beaches and areas around coastlines. To those new to the world of DIY and construction, you may think that sand is just sand but this is certainly not the case, there are quite a few different types of sand, with each specific to certain jobs. Sand from the Sahara that fell overnight and covered the snow at the Piau-Engaly ski resort in southwestern France One important note is that for any concreting or mortar applications, there should be absolutley no more than 4% silt present in the sand.

nice warm sand-coloured mortar for pointing? How do get a nice warm sand-coloured mortar for pointing?

With this in mind, sand should be treated as a precious resource and wastage kept to a minimum, not only to preserve the sand itself, but to also minimize the environmental impact that goes with having to supply billions of tonnes of sand globally. Now that you know why some sand is a different colour to other sand you may also be thinking, why would it suddenly change colour even though I’m getting it form the same place?

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The reason for this is down to where the sand has come from. Sand produced in one area of the country may have a slightly higher iron-oxide content, giving it a reddy orange appearance, where as sand from another area of the country may feature more coral or shell content giving it a whiter appearance. Aside from the main or common types of sand above, there are other less common type available that are used mostly in specialist applications:

orange glow - The Telegraph Saharan dust storm shrouds Europe in orange glow - The Telegraph

One of the primary ingredients of sand is silica. This is a naturally occurring material that is found in nearly a quarter of the Earth’s crust. Now that you know a little more about where sand comes from and why its colour can vary so much it’s time to look at the different types of sand and how they should be used. Sharp Sand (aka Coarse Sand or Pit Sand) Due to the fact that beach sand is collected from coastal regions, it does contain the afore mentioned salts that absorb atmospheric moisture and cause damp issues. Due to this it is not used widely in construction. I have tried adding in a little Snowcrete and it does soften the colour a bit to allow some sandy tones but it's still not proper sand coloured. Desert Sand: Sourced from desert areas and not suitable for construction uses due to grains being too fine and overly smoothed at present, although some are developing concrete substitutes using desert sandIt’s primarily used in making concrete as due to the shape of the grains, it binds extremely well to form a tough and solid surface, but due to the size and shape of particles, not that smooth. Top up the jug to the 150ml mark with some more of the salt water solution you previously mixed and then cover the top of the jug and give it a good shake up to mix it all up.

Sand 15kg - Orange Coloured Sand 15kg - Orange

This is due to the fact that if there is a greater silt content then this can seriously effect the structural integrity of the concrete it’s used in. As we have mentioned, if it’s of prime importance that your mortar does match the colour of the existing mortar then you can add certain dyes and tints that will help you colour-match it.Meteorologists added that the dust often led to dramatic, beautiful sunsets but these might not be visible on this occasion due to wet weather and heavy cloud cover. Kaiser, the guy who took the attached pic said I should use an orange sand but he cannot remember the mix.