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CLS17 Coarse Granite Sand
A light grey granite sand, very well-graded, locally sourced and budget friendly.
CLS24 Coarse Limestone Sand
A brown limestone sand, very well-graded and ideal for blending and adding colour.
CLS26 Coarse Mudstone/Siltstone Sand
A brown mudstone and siltstone sand, very well-graded and popular for its colour and texture.
CLS28 Coarse Flint Sand
One of our most popular, a yellowish-brown flint sand, well-graded, washed and screened.
CLS34 Coarse Silica Sand
A reddish-brown silica sand ideal for blending or to provide a red colour to mortars.
CLS40 Coarse Silica Sand
A yellowish-brown silica sand, well-graded, washed, screened and ideal for mortar matching.
CLS44 Medium-Coarse Quartz and Flint Sand
CLS44 is a medium-coarse, well-graded, light yellowish-brown quartz and flint sand.
CLS47 Coarse Silica River Sand
A light olive brown silica sand, well-graded and ideal for adding texture to a building mortar.
CLS70 Coarse Blended Sand
A brownish-grey, moderately sorted, sand that matches the mortars found in Southwest England.
CLS90 Coarse Blended Sand
A brownish-grey, well-graded, sand that matches the mortars found in Southwest England.
More about our coarse sands
As one of the construction industries most versatile materials, a coarse sand can play a key role in countless general building, landscaping, and or general DIY projects. Whether you’re after a budget-friendly building sand, a coarse sand for a basecoat, or the perfect colour to complement your stonework, our collection is among the best in the Southwest of England.
At Cornish Lime, we know the quality of any mortar, render, or plaster starts with the sand. Whether you’re looking for a suitable sand to match a historic mortar or or aiming for a coarse basecoat render, the sand used makes all the difference.
Explore our collection of fine sands for lime pointing, rendering, and plastering. Our carefully selected collection is explicitly curated for their mineralogy, colours or textures. Available in both mini and bulk bags each is naturally coloured, available kiln-dried on request, and ready for local or nationwide delivery.
What makes a sand coarse? While grading definitions can vary, coarse sand typically has a maximum grain size of 6mm. Adding bulk to the mix, the selection of sand will help define strength, workability, and durability, along with aesthetic qualities like that will impact the colour and texture of your mortar, render or plaster. Looking for a fine sand? Browse our range of fine and superfine sands.
For pointing, we often recommend a washed, well-graded angular sand with a mix of particle sizes, with the largest grain size being no larger than a third of the joint width you intend to point. Most importantly, avoid sands with high fines or silt content, which can increase the water requirement of mortar and the risk of shrinkage cracking while drying.
For rendering or plastering, coarse sands are an excellent choice for scat or basecoats, as they will provide mechanical key for subsequent coats than a finer sand would. When choosing sand, choose sand of a coarseness appropriate to the target coat thickness. Need lime to go with your sand? Browse our range of lime and binders.
Need advice? Our in-house team can help advise for a range of construction applications or help you determine the amount of sand you require. Get in touch with the team.
As with any natural product, variations in colour, texture and shape may occur. In addition, images may vary slightly from actual products due to these natural variations and screen resolution. For the best consistency, ensure to acquire a sufficient amount of material with your order to avoid batch-to-batch variation.
Need support? Get in touch with the team.
Get In TouchFAQs
Typically, coarse sand has a maximum grain size of 6mm, with a good spread of particle sizes and minimal silt or clay content. Coarse sands are typically used in basecoats, as they allow for a greater depth of application.
Yes, blending coarse and fine sands to achieve an ideal mix is a common approach. However, just keep in mind that sand not only impacts aesthetic qualities like colour and texture, but the overall performance, strength, shrinkage and workability of the material.
Coarse sands are typically used in basecoats and float coats. They will not give as smooth a surface texture as using a finer sand so may not be appropriate for use as a finish coat depending on what look you’re trying to achieve. For topcoats, explore our fine sand range.
As general guidance, 125 kilos for every bag of lime. However, different limes have different densities, so this can vary.
A “coarse sharp sand” or “sharp sand” is common term used in construction, typically for types of work including concrete, screeding, or paving. Sharp sand tends to be coarse with sharp angular grains. We recommend CLS28, CLS40, and CLS44 as a good place to start.