Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 09, 2011 12:46 pm Hi everyone... (I posted this in landscaping also but after about 50views and not one response, I'm trying to broaden my net .... am really hoping someone might have a clue what we are dealing with....) Late last year we bought a sandpit (treated pine). We painted it with a kind of sealer (meant to stop toxins leaking out of timber into the sand etc). I can't remember the name of it (could go to the shed and find out ) but it was a black stain type of stuff. Filled it with white sand and off we go. Later, we noticed DH's shorts were yellow on the backside and couldn't figure out what the hell it was. Then, after DD started playing in the sand pit, we noticed her clothes were turning yellow too. Something in the sand/sand pit was staining clothes a yellow/orange colour (and it doesn't wash out). So we called the landscape supplier to see if they knew anything about what it could be. He said that it sounded like potentially there could be iron in the sand that was causing rust stains... but he said that they supply to local schools and kindergartens etc etc and they have NEVER heard of such a thing or had any complaints with their sand. He said something about possibly getting mixed up with brick sand but if it was brick sand we would see 'yellow' in the sand. We were all a bit confused. When we dismantled the sandpit, we noticed some parts of the sand were quite yellow (should be white) but... ( ) that could possibly be where the cat found it 'useful' because once we deemed the sandpit unsuitable for playing, we got slack in putting the cover on it and the cat found it quite handy. The other interesting thing (why is my life so full of complications) is that outside the sandpit, along one edge in particular, we noticed the leaves and grass etc were all going brown/black and dying. Not just standard browning/dying, but a real dark suspicious colour. Also, in these same brown/dead areas, when it rained and water pooled, there was a silver/metallic slick that formed on top of the water puddles. So something suspicious was going on - not sure if it was something coming up from our soil (mind you we had thick black plastic lining the base of the sandpit). We do have drainage issues and one of our drains ends not far from the sand pit so that area may be sodden underneath and possibly have some kind of bacteria or chemical in the water/soil??????). Or whether it is simply run off from the stain that we used, or the pine timber itself...... and whether the same thing is causing the yellowing of the sand or whether we are dealing with two separate things?? We now want to rebuild the sandpit (or totally get a new one) but we don't want to repeat the same issue. Does anyone know what might have been causing the staining of clothes (beside the cat because the rust staining was happening before the cat got involved) - and the blackness of the leaves and grass along a couple of edges of the sand pit, and the silvery slick on the water?? Sorry it's so long, but I wanted to give all information that might help. Any input anyone?????? HHCIB Re: Anyone know what this might be...... 2Sep 09, 2011 1:14 pm Ew yuck! No solutions from me but rebuilding it completely sounds like a good idea. Good luck! Casey + Gary + 5 kool kiddos + 1 funky Frenchie + 5 happy hens = barrels of fun in Muswellbrook Re: Anyone know what this might be...... 3Sep 09, 2011 1:45 pm Yeh I know . We will definitely get a new sand pit. Current one is totally dismantled and will go on the scrap heap. We just want to know what the problem is/was so that we can avoid it happening again. HHCIB Re: Anyone know what this might be...... 4Sep 09, 2011 2:05 pm Well, what a headache. The only thing that I can think of is that the sand has some clay in it (builders loam) and that would def stain the kids clothes. Is the sand pure white? We once bought 'playsand' that ended up doing the same thing. Now as for staining the treated pine, it could be the stain the stain thats leaching out and discolouring the grass. It wouldnt take much for the grass to look dark as when it has rained, the stained leached and the grass has soaked it up. Im sure when you redo the sandpit, ask for a suitable stain if you want or even better, paint it. And make sure you get sold the true 'playsand' that is as white as snow. Good luck Forrester 43sq We have our keys (3/6/11) Now it's time to decorate (that's the fun part.lol) https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37598 Re: Anyone know what this might be...... 5Sep 09, 2011 3:47 pm mmm, no idea what the issue you encountered was, but good to know, as we'll be possibly building a sandpit in the future. but the black treatment which you would've used, would be a black bitumen coating, for waterproofing timber .. I've used something similar on the various bits of timber around the house. Re: Anyone know what this might be...... 6Sep 12, 2011 8:50 am HI Rudolf Yes, maybe (??) we got the wrong sand delivered. We certainly asked for sandpit sand but maybe we got some kind of builders sand. When we took a sample back to the landscape place to show the guy to see if we got the wrong sand, he wouldn't even take a look at it insisting that it wasn't the wrong sand and he's never had any complaints before and pretty much went off his head so we never got to the bottom of the 'sand' side of things. But we won't be going back there again so hopefully the sand will be correct next time - for certain (it was white, but maybe not that pure, bright white??). As for the stain, given the stain is recommended for garden retaining walls and as I may have mentioned, my friends used it on their veggie patches (maybe not exactly the same brand, but the same type of stuff) I would have thought that it be safe around vegetation. But... again... I'll double-check before we use it again. Hi trippy Yes, checked, it is a bitumen coating - called ormonoid (or armonoid??) I don't think it is/was the staining causing the blackening/killing of the grass - but I can't be sure. Especially as I cannot figure out what else it could have been (unless again, it was something in the sand but we had plastic lining. Sorry, waffling out loud because it's all still such a mystery. HHCIB HHCIB Re: Anyone know what this might be...... 7Sep 12, 2011 3:46 pm When you rebuild the sandpit, I would take photos and keep labelled samples of everything involved in the process. That way if it goes wrong again, you have documented evidence and can track down what exactly is causing the problem. Also photos of what you're describing would be very useful! Someone might have read this and not known what you're describing, but when they see a photo they go "Ah, I recognize that". 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