Optimising your Project Finances & Cost Control
When calculating the cost of bricklaying on a project, most estimators look at a simple spreadsheet: material cost per unit plus estimated labour hours. But if you are only measuring the upfront cost of raw materials, your site is almost certainly bleeding money through hidden, unmeasured variables.
Traditional on-site mortar mixing is full of hidden financial leaks. From material spoilage to labour inefficiencies, the true cost of a traditional mix is often far higher than it looks on paper. Let’s break it down.
1. The Cost of “Just in Case” Over-Ordering
With traditional sand heaps and bulk bags, material waste is treated as an inevitable cost of doing business. Sand gets ground into the mud, washed away by rain, or contaminated by site debris. To cover this, estimators regularly add a 10% to 15% waste margin to orders. With a MERCOL silo system, material waste is virtually zero because everything remains protected inside the silo until the exact moment it’s mixed. You pay for what you actually use, not what ends up in the skip.
2. The Clean-Up and Set-up Labour Cost
How much are you paying labourers every week just to set up mixing stations, haul heavy bags, shovel sand, wash out mixers, and clean up the surrounding mess at knock-off time? These are non-productive hours that actively drain your bottom line. An automated silo system runs clean at the push of a button, unlocking immense labour efficiency and freeing up your crew to focus on high-value work.
3. The Rectification Cost
Human error during on-site mixing introduces massive inconsistencies. A little too much water here, a different shovelful of sand there, and you can end up with strength variations or uneven wall colours. If a client rejects a facade due to a patchy, inconsistent finish, the cost of post-handover rectifications can completely wipe out a project’s profit margin. Factory-controlled, mechanical batching ensures perfect colour and strength consistency from the first bucket to the very last, eliminating expensive handover disputes.
A dry mortar silo isn’t an added premium luxury—it is a direct financial defence strategy designed to protect your project’s bottom line. Contact our team today.