How much for a Silica Sand manege surface?

[Aragon56]

We're just about to order the surface for our manege and think we'll go for silica sand as it seems to have pretty good reviews. Our other option is fibre sand. Our builder has quoted us £6230 plus VAT for silica sand, or £7200 + VAT for fibre sand.

Its for a 20x40 manege. I'm not sure if haulage also comes into the equation-although I know it needs to be equestrian standard sand which comes from a couple of quarries. We're in Leicestershire.

Does this sound about the right price or should we be shopping around? Builder is pretty good and building all our stables so don't think he's marked it up too much.

Thanks

 

[millitiger]

how is the sand being delivered?

if you have the access to get the really huge artic lorries in that helps a lot with price.

not sure where your nearest quarry is but transport can add a lot to the cost.

can you ring a few suppliers from the back of H&H to compare?

it sounds a lot to me, especially with VAT on top.

we built our 20x40 arena with equestrian sand and rubber with double kickboards and 5ft post and rail fencing for around £10k.
that didn't include full labour (my stepdad did it) but did include all materials, machine hire, guys to do the fencing and 2 labourers to help.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

silica sand varies enormously in price and quality. you really need to get a per tonne price, and look at the grade of sand. the cheaper silica sand will ride deep compared to the best grade of silica sand. it also varies in color, can be very red (not good if you have a lot of gray/white legs to pale beige. Haulage adds to the cost, so the bigger the lorry the less loads but you need good access for the artics. your quote sounds quite high, being as that is just the sand. how many tonnes are you expecting to put on? are you adding rubber or anything else?

 

[Aragon56]

I'm not sure how many tonnes we need but will find out. We weren't planning to add rubber as have been told thats its really difficult to dispose of a few years down the line. I know a lot of schools have rubber added but if its going to be a nightmare to get rid of in a few years then there doesn't seem much point.

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Honey08]

Sand alone is ok if its not in a windy spot. My friend put down a sand school last year, and six months later had to put two thirds of the sand in again as it had blown out on dry days. She added rubber that time round.

Millitiger's figure has given me hope of building one soon. Fab!

 

[millitiger]

i would definitely look at adding rubber on top unless the school is not getting a lot of use and you aren't going to be jumping.

rubber takes decades to break down and you don't replace it, just top it up so the cost of getting rid of it shouldn't be a huge factor in chosing a surface.