concreting sand - yellow brickies?

[lorax]

Happy new year!

I need to put in a bunch of pad footings (sole plates) to bear house stumps.

I have read that yellow brickies sand is good for mortar but not to be used for concrete footings (seems concreting sand needs to be sharper and contain less silt than "fatty" sands whatever that means) yet the general sand and soil supply places seem to say it is the stuff to use (maybe because its the only stuff they stock). As the house is only as stable as the footings, it seems like a good thing to get right!

I would buy readymix but fiddling around with moving formwork, tamping, levelling for 32 plates will likely see the stuff go off in the meantime - seems better to do a mixerload at a time.

Can anyone shed any light on what sand to use for strong structural concrete for pad footings (and a good place to get it in Perth metro SOR - need blue metal too)

Cheers

[Dirty Doogie]

Dont use it! Especially for footings or anything structural.

[Dirty Doogie]

Clean washed river sand is pretty good.