What Type of Sand for Pool

by April
(Shreveport, LA)

We recently purchased an above ground pool, 30' round . Can river sand be used as my base? It tells you in instructions use brick sand.

I am asking due to where I work I am able to get river sand for free. I priced brick sand and its 44 dollars a yard. I am looking at my options on saving money but also want to do it right so we don't have no future problems down the road such as cave in.

If I can save money that would be great but I will buy brick if that is better, but heck, if I can save a couple hundred dollars that would be great too. Any suggestions would be great.



Hi April. The nice thing about brick sand, or mortar sand as we call it, is that it is clean, washed and free of any rocks or stones. Sand from a sand lot is so much nicer to use. It should be delivered damp which makes it much easier to work with than dry sand. A good quality sand is easier to move, smooth out and broom to a perfectly flat base.

River sand is usually part sand, part dirt with rocks and stones thrown in. It can be screened to clean out any rocks. It can also be watered to clean it. If the sand contains a large quantity of dirt it could easily turn to mud during the washing process, making it impossible to work with.

My suggestion would be to take a close look at booth types of sand, keeping in mind my comments, and see which you think would be easiest to work with and provide the best base for your liner.