best place to buy sand surface from

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Belperdeb

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As title really. What company is the best and most reasonably priced to buy possibly a waxed surface, or just a silica sand one. Any help gratefully received as its a bit of a minefield out there
 
Hi where you are in relation to the quarries makes a difference..
Also if you are buying a waxed surface, that's coming direct from the manufacturer, depends on there prices. Waxed is a lot dearer surface to choose, but worth it if its going in an indoor school?
The silica sand from quarries can go straight into your arena, then mix in and additive (rubber, fibre whatever you choose) into the top few inches of sand. Or buy a pre mixed surface from the manufacturer, which will have the additive mixed throughout the whole surface.

It all depends on your budget, and also your choice of surface really.
 
Hi; I don't know what area you are in but three weeks' ago I bought 20 tonnes of silica sand from Hills Aggregates. It came the day after I ordered it, and was completely dry (remember if you are buying surfaces by weight, if it has been exposed to rain then you may end up paying for surface mixed with water which obviously weighs more). We put it into our indoor school and haven't put anything on top of it, and it is fine:)
 
Be very careful if you are buying silica sand/equestrian sand from someone who is not an equestrian surfaces expert. Not all sands are the same. Not even all silica sand is the same and some can get desperately and unusably deep when it is too dry and go almost rock-like when it is damp.

Mine came, via the expert arena installer, from Manchester Plastics.
 
cptrayes said:
Be very careful if you are buying silica sand/equestrian sand from someone who is not an equestrian surfaces expert. Not all sands are the same. Not even all silica sand is the same and some can get desperately and unusably deep when it is too dry and go almost rock-like when it is damp.
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Good advice. There are only really 4 suitable quarries in the country. The Sand must be the correct grade. There are hundreds of different grades of Silica Sand but only a few are suitable for equestrian use. Most are produced for water filtration and glass making etc. Just because it is sold as Silica Sand does not mean it is fit for equetrian use. Purchase the wrong grade and you will find the surface a nighmare to ride on.
 
Mainland said:
Good advice. There are only really 4 suitable quarries in the country. The Sand must be the correct grade. There are hundreds of different grades of Silica Sand but only a few are suitable for equestrian use. Most are produced for water filtration and glass making etc. Just because it is sold as Silica Sand does not mean it is fit for equetrian use. Purchase the wrong grade and you will find the surface a nighmare to ride on.
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Sorry to disappoint, but my bargain buy sand from Hills is proving absolutely perfect. If I had known I could resurface the indoor so cheaply, I would have done it years ago. £17.50 a tonne delivered. 20 tonnes was more than enough for a 20 x 30 indoor school, on top of the existing, worn-out surface.
 
When I built our school I researched and researched and decided to go with Mansfield high grade equestrian fibre sand. Expensive but worth it. Very good company to deal with. Gave good advice and samples of their various grades of sands.
 
gelderlander said:
Sorry to disappoint, but my bargain buy sand from Hills is proving absolutely perfect. If I had known I could resurface the indoor so cheaply, I would have done it years ago. £17.50 a tonne delivered. 20 tonnes was more than enough for a 20 x 30 indoor school, on top of the existing, worn-out surface.
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You aren't disappointing anyone, but indoor surfaces behave completely differently from outdoor ones, and you also used your sand as a top-up not a base, which was why you only used 20 tons.

When I did an outdoor 20 x 40 I needed well over 100 tons of aggregate (grit, not sand) to get it 6 inches deep. I have also used builder's sand, completely the wrong stuff, to top up an indoor and it was fine. I've seen an outdoor made out of it and it was dire. It was so deep the horses could barely get around the corners. My friend has silica sand, but not the right stuff, and it's damned hard when it's damp and deep when it's dry.

The right sand matters when building from scratch.
 
Belperdeb I couldn't justify the price of waxed by I went for Combi-ride fibre/rubber and I've been absolutely delighted with it. I've ridden on it frozen in the last week and I've not graded it for 6 months or more because it barely tracks.
 
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