Shotcrete is very rarely used in Belize. I am building a new home and purchased a shotcrete machine to apply exterior finishes to houses, and most importantly to my new pool. A very good contractor here (who has built many hand-plastered pools) has told me that we cannot use shotcrete in Belize because of the type of sand that we have. Is this true? Can the consistency of the sand make it impossible to use shotcrete?

Shotcrete is a placement method for concrete. If the sand can be used for concrete, it should be acceptable for shotcrete placement. To some extent, the type of shotcrete equipment may make a difference. If shooting wet-mix shotcrete, the concrete mixture must be able to be pumped. For pumpability, we do recommend a smooth gradation of the fine aggregate. If shooting dry-mix shotcrete, the sand gradation has much less effect, and you should be able to shoot most any sand in your concrete mixture.