Hey folks,

My house was originally built in 1974. At some point between then and when I purchased it in 12/2009, it has been remodeled a few times.

At some point, an addition was added to the house. The original part of the house is 1-story, wood-frame construction. The addition is 2-stories of wood-frame construction. Not sure what other info you'll need to answer my question, but feel free to ask.

What is the question? Well, I'm having an alarm system installed and the installer ran wire from the original part of the house into the new part. He cut a hole in a wall in my closet in the upstairs part of the addition and... sand poured out. I've not had a lot of experience with sand bags, but it looks like it'd be a about 1-2 sand bags full of sand that came out of the wall.

Why, oh why, would there be sand in my walls? And what are the [potential] consequences of having had it poured out of my walls - aside from my new, trendy beach look in my bedroom?

Thanks very very much in advance for any suggestions you can offer.

-Shalie

 

Are you sure it is sand and not vermiculite? Vermiculite | Asbestos | US EPA

I know victorian era homes sometimes had sand in the floors to reduce sand transmission. I'm not sure why you would have sand in your walls. I don't think I would worry about the loss of sand. You may be better off with it coming out and refilling with insulation.

 

Shalie, I've got over 20 years of experience in building, remodeling, repairing houses. I'll have to step aside and let the more experienced guys fill in the blanks. I would have absolutely no idea why sand would be in a wall cavity. Think about it. You have wall cavities every 16", so you have the potential for quite a few sand bags full of sand if you ever needed them.
I will check back to see if the wiser ones log in an answer. Interesting. Thanks for sharing it.

 

I could be for mass to increase the long term temperature stability. Many of the homes in Phoenix were masonry, which provides more comfort. The 1970's & 1980's that were built out of wood frame did not have the temperature stability of the masonry homes. Some frame homes were built with specially size concrete blocks stacked in the wall cavities since it is a much cleaner job and there is not the possibility of the of blowing out the drywall.

Dick

 

Lovely. No, I'm not at all sure it is sand. And here I thought that, after being burglarized last weekend, this week couldn't get any worse.

Time to call up someone to come out here and test it, I suppose.

 

Thank you, Chandler and concretemasonry, for additional responses.

What are your thoughts on the vermiculite possibility?

 

Vermiculite is used in some insulation products and to make concrete pads lighter, but in order for you to have that much, a lot of insulation board would have degraded over the years. Remember bean bag chairs????? Remember poking a hole in one??? Well that was vermiculite. I think you would know if you had that instead of sand.

 

Quite an obvious difference between sand and vermiculite. Isn't vermiculite light enough to float?

 

Vermiculite came as a loose fill insulation.

Look at those pictures closely. There is one with a quarter in it to help you judge the size of the particles. If it seemed just like play sand, then you have sand.

 

Had a customer years ago that had a wall filled with tiny foam balls. She got tired of sweeping them up as they drifted out of the garage wall and into the garage.

No mystery what they were or how they came to be in the wall but I bet if a new owner had bought the house he would have been baffled. She had had a couple of bags of stuffing to refill bean bag chairs and rodents had chewed on the bags. Eventually the tiny foam balls drifted into the nearest wall through utility and other holes.

My point being maybe it is sand but the presence may be accidental. Maybe an aquarium or there was a Native American sand painter in the house. Of course using a measuring cup half filled with water and a kitchen scale you could determine the specific gravity. As stated earlier vermiculite would be a lot lighter.

 

Where? (And where is the smiley that shows the guy shrugging his shoulders as if he does not know?)

Oh, never mind. I guess YOU posted a site. I was concentrating on the OP maybe sending a photo of what spilled out. Too bad he didn't have a sack of money spill out instead, eh? Such stuff has happened close to that.

 

Well, if density is the way to differentiate it from sand, then I def. have vermiculite. I popped on some gloves and my filtermask (only P95, though), put some in a cup and filled it with water. Floaty floaty floaty. Scooped a little up in my hand, and it weighed nothing at all.

Good times. Goooooooood tiiiiiimes.

I assume it is possible to have someone come out and remove the stuff that poured out of the walls, and simply reseal the walls? They won't want to tear down all my drywall and get it all out? Everything I've read says it's OK to have around if you don't disturb it. Like snakes...

 

Did I miss something? Suck it up with a shop vac and throw it a way. Why hire someone?

 

Because of asbestos contamination?

 

No shop vac please. It does sound like it could be vermiculite or perlite, but not all has asbestos. I'll attach a link for guidance.
Vermiculite | Asbestos | US EPA
The primary source of contaminated Vermiculite was the Libby mine in Montana, resopnsible for about 70% of all Vermiculite at the time, now closed. The link above will provide the recommended steps you should take.

Bud

 

Now it sounds like you let insulation escape. You are going to have to replenish, from up top, what came out below.

I had a similar experience happen to me in a commercial food factory freezer once. I just stood there like a dope, while it kept running out after I drilled a hole in the wall. It was like a patient bleeding to death on the operating table.

 

The only time I ever hear about someone contemplating sand-filled walls is for soundproofing

 

Filling a wall with sand for sound proofing? I wouldn't think the sheetrock nor the screws/nails would take the stress. Why not pour a monolith and be done with it?

 

Oh, it's definately not a great idea. It comes up from time to time is all.

 

I understand that it has already been determined that the substance in the wall is not sand but probably Vermiculite loose-fill insulation. This being said, this thread reminded me of a conversation I had with some colleagues a few years back, regarding methods of providing "bullet protection" of exterior walls of a home. As it turns out, 3 to 4 inches of sand will stop most handgun rounds, while 6 inches will stop most rifle rounds (Do a search on "Box o' Truth" and look for the sand box test).

Obviously, if you live in an area where drive-by-shootings are common, the best solution is to MOVE AWAY of course. This being said, if there was a way to allow a wall to support the weight of all that sand (your biggest obstacle), it might provide some inexpensive protection.