Trade supply

Sand, Gravel & Aggregate

Sand and aggregate are sold by the cubic metre and by the lorry load, tipped where you want them on site, with nobody from us staying behind to mix anything. It is a straightforward supply account — no build contract, trade terms whether you are a homeowner backfilling around a new tank or a contractor feeding a batching plant. Rates move with haulage and fuel, so we price the load on the day against the quantity, the grade and the distance rather than quoting a figure that expires.

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Scope of works

What we actually do.

Everything below happens inside our business — no subcontracted links in the chain.

Get a quote for sand, gravel & aggregate

01
Washed sand for concrete & render
Sweet sand, washed to bring the silt and salt down to where structural concrete and render can use it. This is the grade that goes into anything with cement in it, and it is not interchangeable with the cheaper pit sand no matter what the driver tells you when he arrives with the wrong load.
02
Pit sand, fill & backfill
Unwashed sand for backfill around foundations, bedding under slabs and paving, trench surround and general fill. Cheaper, entirely fit for its purpose, and completely wrong in a mix. We keep the stockpiles apart and label the delivery note so the two never turn up on the same job by accident.
03
Crushed limestone & dolomite
Graded coarse aggregate in the standard nominal sizes — around 5 to 10 mm for fine concrete, screeds and blinding, 10 to 20 mm as the general concrete size, and 20 to 40 mm for mass pours and heavy sub-base. Dolomite where a harder, denser aggregate is specified.
04
Sub-base, crusher run & fines
Well-graded crusher run for road and driveway sub-base, quarry fines for blinding and bedding, and single-size clean stone for drainage layers, soakaways and French drains. Sold by the cubic metre and compacted volume is what matters, so order against the compacted depth and add for it.
05
Delivery by the load
Tipped to site by the cubic metre, the tipper load or the full trailer, depending on how much you need and what the access will physically take. Tipper loads commonly run somewhere between six and twenty cubic metres by vehicle. Tell us the gate width and the turning space when you order, because a load that cannot get in is a load you still paid to move.

Specification

The numbers, before you ask.

Sand, Gravel & Aggregate — technical specification
Sand grades	Washed sweet sand for concrete and render; pit sand for fill and bedding
Silt limit	Concrete sand should test below roughly 3 per cent silt by weight
Aggregate sizes	Nominal 5–10 mm, 10–20 mm and 20–40 mm crushed limestone or dolomite
Sub-base	Graded crusher run, quarry fines for blinding, clean single-size for drainage
Sold by	The cubic metre, the tipper load and the full trailer
Density guide	About 1.5 tonnes per cubic metre of sand, 1.5 to 1.6 for crushed stone

Interlock laid on a screeded sand bed, sand heaped alongside

Selection

Grades we stock and load

Washed sweet sandConcrete, mortar & render
The clean structural sand. Washed to strip out silt and salt so it develops proper bond with cement. Anything you are going to mix, plaster with or point with wants this and nothing else.
Pit & fill sandBackfill & bedding
Unwashed and unbothered. For backfilling around footings and tanks, bedding under slabs and pavers, and trench surround. Perfectly good at its job and quietly ruinous in a mix.
Crushed limestone 10–20 mmGeneral concrete
The standard coarse aggregate for structural concrete. Well graded, angular, and the size most Egyptian mix designs assume unless the drawing says otherwise.
Crushed 20–40 mm & mass gradeMass pours & sub-base
Larger stone for thick unreinforced pours, heavy sub-base and hardcore. Less cement per cubic metre, which is exactly why it is used where the section allows it.
Crusher run sub-baseDriveways & hardstanding
Well-graded from dust up to around 40 mm so it locks together and compacts hard. The layer under every driveway, terrace slab and parking apron that has not sunk.
Clean single-size stoneDrainage
Washed, uniform, no fines. For soakaways, French drains, drainage blankets behind retaining walls and the void under a land drain. Fines in this material defeat the entire point of it.

Gallery

Sand, Gravel & Aggregate in place.

Every photograph on this page was taken on one of our sites during the work. Nothing here is a stock image or a render.

Interlock pavers bedded on sand, more pavers stacked alongside

Timber shuttering set out on bare earth, gravel and boulders inside

Where it goes

Structural concrete & screed
Block mortar & render
Foundation & tank backfill
Bedding under slabs & pavers
Driveway & terrace sub-base
Soakaways & land drainage
Landscaping & levelling fill
Pool surround & pipe surround

Questions we get asked

Sand, Gravel & Aggregate — questions we get asked

Can I order one load without any other work?

Yes. One tipper of backfill for a homeowner is as normal an order here as a standing weekly supply to a contractor, and both are priced on the same trade basis. No installation, no contract. Tell us the grade, the volume and where the lorry has to get to, and we quote it that day.

Why does washed sand cost more, and can I just use the cheaper sand?

Not in concrete, mortar or render. Unwashed sand carries silt and clay fines that coat the grains and stop cement bonding to them, and the strength loss is real and permanent. Egyptian practice keeps silt in concrete sand under roughly 3 per cent by weight. The rough site check is the jar test — a third of a jar of sand, topped with water, shaken hard and left to settle for a few hours, will show a distinct silt band on top of the sand. If that band is more than a thin skim, the load is not concrete sand. The laboratory figure is what governs, but the jar tells you whether to argue with the driver before he tips.

Is sea sand a problem?

It is a serious defect, and it is worth being blunt about it. Sea sand carries chlorides, and chlorides in structural concrete break down the passive layer protecting the reinforcement, so the steel corrodes inside the concrete. Corroding steel expands, the concrete cracks along the bar lines and spalls off, and the damage accelerates once it starts. On the North Coast the temptation is obvious because the beach is right there — do not. Buy washed sweet sand for anything structural, and keep unwashed coastal material for non-structural fill well away from reinforcement.

How much do I actually order?

Work in cubic metres of finished volume and then add. For concrete, roughly half a cubic metre of sand and around 0.8 cubic metres of coarse aggregate per cubic metre of concrete is a fair ordering estimate. For sub-base, order against the compacted depth and add roughly a quarter, because compaction takes the volume out. One more thing that catches people buying by volume — damp sand bulks, sometimes by 20 to 30 per cent, so a load that looks generous in the tipper can measure short once it dries and settles. Buying by weight avoids the argument entirely on larger orders.

How close can the lorry get?

That depends entirely on your gate, your turning circle and the compound rules, which is why we ask before dispatch rather than after. Many New Cairo and Sheikh Zayed compounds restrict heavy vehicles to specific hours, and North Coast compounds are stricter still and often close to deliveries in high season. A smaller tipper making two trips is usually cheaper than a trailer that has to turn around at the gate.

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