Heat wave turned our last pour into a race against the clock

The concrete started setting almost as soon as it hit the forms (no joke, it was wild). We ended up misting it constantly just to get a decent finish on the surface. How do you all slow things down when it's curing too fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

verawhite1mo agoMost Upvoted

Last summer we used a liquid retarder sprayed on the forms right before the pour. The brand was something like Set-Right. It bought us maybe an extra twenty minutes of work time, which felt like a gift. Still had to keep the hose and sprayer handy for misting, but it kept the surface from turning into a lost cause.

henryl401mo ago

Heard adding ice to the mix water can help in that situation.

iris_fisher541mo ago

My friend Jake tried the ice trick on a pour in Nevada last August. They used about 50 pounds of ice in the mixer truck's water tank. It bought them an extra half hour before the stuff started to set up. He said it was the only reason they finished the slab without cracks.