That moment my foundation pour went sideways in St. Albert

I was pouring a slab for a garage last September when the truck showed up 45 minutes late and the concrete was already starting to set in the mixer. Had to work with a crew of 3 to get it down and level in under 20 minutes before it got too stiff. Anyone else had a concrete delivery go wrong and had to scramble?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_schmidt1419d ago

I read that adding retarder can buy you an extra 15 minutes. Worth trying?

wright.lisa19d ago

@patricia_schmidt14 is right about retarder buying time, but that only helps if you asked for it before the truck left the plant. What nobody's mentioned here is that you can also use warm water on the subgrade before the pour to slow down setting on the bottom. I've had a similar scramble with a garage slab in March when the truck showed up early and the ground was frozen solid. We ended up using a heating blanket on the pour area for a few hours to let it cure right. It's not something you plan for, but having a plan for bad temperatures can save you.

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