How to Make a Sandbag

Use sandbags to fill in low-lying areas around your property and to redirect water away from your home. Here's how to make sandbags and use them to protect your land.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sand
• Shovels
• Sandbags
• Carts Or Wheelbarrows
• Cement
• Shovels

1. Gather the following supplies from a hardware or home improvement store: cloth or plastic sandbags, polyethylene sheeting, sand, a shovel and a wheelbarrow.

2. Plan to work with another person. One person should hold the bag while the other one fills it.

3. Fill the sandbag one-quarter to one-half full with sand. It should weigh about 40 lbs.

4. Fold the empty part of the bag over. Be sure that when you place the bag, the folded-over side is facing down, so that no water will seep in. If one bag leaks, the whole pile will be ruined.

5. Dig a trench around the area you want to protect. (The standard trench is usually 4 to 6 inches deep and 18 to 24 inches wide.)

6. Lay the polyethylene sheeting in the trench and secure it with several sandbags. The sandbags should be placed in the direction of the water flow, and there should be no space in between bags.

7. Complete one row before you begin the next.

8. Stagger the second row on top of the first (similar to the way that bricks are staggered in a wall). This system provides added protection.

9. Limit your stack to three layers of sandbags, since any more may not be sturdy.

10. Following the rainy season, empty the sand into your garden and save the bags for next year.

Tips & Warnings

• Wait to place the sandbags until the rainy season is near, since the bags can deteriorate over an extended period of repeatedly getting wet and then drying.
• Sandbags work best for filling in low areas of 2 feet or less.
• In place of sand, consider filling the bags with cement to create a permanent dam.
• Use soil if you do not have sand.

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[bmi57]

on 12/7/2007 Very important article, thanks.

[Jonalynn]

on 12/7/2007 Thanks for the tip! Living in Florida, we need lots of ideas for water protection.

[JohnLocke]

on 12/15/2006 now available in America & used by British Military forcs since 2002 - www.proearthdev.com for the SandHopper & the Hopper Hook. Using this piece of equipment, a 3 man team can turn out 200+ filled sandbags each hour.

on 11/22/2005 Visit gobagger.com to see the one-person manual bag-filler, the GoBagger'. It's up to 5 times faster than the shovel and hold method - and much safer, too.