Curing concrete in cold conditions
 

A book I have indicates it's best for your concrete to cure when it's
warm. It said over 70 degrees would be good. It had instructions if it's
50 - 70 degrees. However, it's colder than that here right now.

The plumbers who did my trenchless sewer lateral replacement did some
concrete work, patching up some concrete where they had to dig holes to
do the work. They did this a bit over a week ago and it looks to me like
the concrete is curing very slowly. These guys didn't measure when they
mixed the concrete. Mostly, they used Quickcrete (or something like
that), bags of ready mixed dry to which they added water by squirting
water in with a hose. They'd mix it some, and then add some more water
or some dry cement depending on how it appeared to them. It was chilly
then and it's only gotten chillier, for the most part.

It's been dry and days have had high temperatures from 48 to 55 and
nights have dropped to 31 to 34 since they did the work about 8 days
ago. Should I be spraying water on the patches to facilitate the curing?
Should I cover them? One of the patches looks as though it's virtually
not curing - shows no white streaks on at least half of it. The last
week has been unusually cold for around here and I can reasonably expect
daytime and nightime temperatures to increase 5-7 degrees shortly.
Thanks for any advice.

Dan

Curing concrete in cold conditions
 

If it's been 8 days, then it's done. You'll do nothing to change it now.
The temperature is only critical to keep the mix from freezing before it
cures. The cure itself is a chemical reaction. And if it freezes before
the water is gone, then you have a worthless mess.

--
Steve Barker


"Dan_Musicant" wrote in message
...
A book I have indicates it's best for your concrete to cure when it's
warm. It said over 70 degrees would be good. It had instructions if it's
50 - 70 degrees. However, it's colder than that here right now.

The plumbers who did my trenchless sewer lateral replacement did some
concrete work, patching up some concrete where they had to dig holes to
do the work. They did this a bit over a week ago and it looks to me like
the concrete is curing very slowly. These guys didn't measure when they
mixed the concrete. Mostly, they used Quickcrete (or something like
that), bags of ready mixed dry to which they added water by squirting
water in with a hose. They'd mix it some, and then add some more water
or some dry cement depending on how it appeared to them. It was chilly
then and it's only gotten chillier, for the most part.

It's been dry and days have had high temperatures from 48 to 55 and
nights have dropped to 31 to 34 since they did the work about 8 days
ago. Should I be spraying water on the patches to facilitate the curing?
Should I cover them? One of the patches looks as though it's virtually
not curing - shows no white streaks on at least half of it. The last
week has been unusually cold for around here and I can reasonably expect
daytime and nightime temperatures to increase 5-7 degrees shortly.
Thanks for any advice.

Dan

Curing concrete in cold conditions
 

Agreed, low temperatures will not affect it only if it freezes, even then it
won't be a problem if you cover it so that it can draw some ground warmth.
After all, here in Canada, construction proceeds through winter with
concrete pouring in sub-zero temperatures with the aid of concrete
antifreeze and heaters.

"Steve Barker" wrote in message
...
If it's been 8 days, then it's done. You'll do nothing to change it now.
The temperature is only critical to keep the mix from freezing before it
cures. The cure itself is a chemical reaction. And if it freezes before
the water is gone, then you have a worthless mess.

--
Steve Barker


"Dan_Musicant" wrote in message
...
A book I have indicates it's best for your concrete to cure when it's
warm. It said over 70 degrees would be good. It had instructions if it's
50 - 70 degrees. However, it's colder than that here right now.

The plumbers who did my trenchless sewer lateral replacement did some
concrete work, patching up some concrete where they had to dig holes to
do the work. They did this a bit over a week ago and it looks to me like
the concrete is curing very slowly. These guys didn't measure when they
mixed the concrete. Mostly, they used Quickcrete (or something like
that), bags of ready mixed dry to which they added water by squirting
water in with a hose. They'd mix it some, and then add some more water
or some dry cement depending on how it appeared to them. It was chilly
then and it's only gotten chillier, for the most part.

It's been dry and days have had high temperatures from 48 to 55 and
nights have dropped to 31 to 34 since they did the work about 8 days
ago. Should I be spraying water on the patches to facilitate the curing?
Should I cover them? One of the patches looks as though it's virtually
not curing - shows no white streaks on at least half of it. The last
week has been unusually cold for around here and I can reasonably expect
daytime and nightime temperatures to increase 5-7 degrees shortly.
Thanks for any advice.

Dan