Pouring Concrete in Hot Weather – What Do I Need to Know?

Excess heat can have a devastating effect on the quality of freshly mixed concrete. It is recommended to store newly prepared concrete at a lower temperature than 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Thus, Concrete Brisbane strongly recommends that you should have proper arrangements for placing, finishing, and curing of concrete if you wish to use it as the planning material for your building.

Pouring concrete in hot weather can be a little tricky as it does not take too long for the quality of concrete to break down in hot weather conditions. From the loss of entrained air to the surging demand for water, here is a list of what can happen to the concrete if the temperature exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Effects of Pouring Concrete in Hot Weather

• During the hot weather, the temperature is very high and calls for more water. This is the reason for which the water-cement ratio increases and leads to enhance the potential strength of the concrete.
• Hot weather also accelerates slum loss and may even cause loss of entrained air.
• Weather plays a crucial role in setting time of concrete. If the weather is hot or the concrete is poured in high temperature, then the concrete sets quickly and requires more rapid finishing.
• In hot weather, the temperature is usually high, which increases the rate of evaporation due to which the surface water removes very quickly. Surface water plays an important role in hydration.
• High temperature further escalates hydration of cement due to which thermal cracking of the concrete can be observed in many concrete structures.

Whether your concrete would show the signs of all these effects or not, it would depend on its quality. The material from reliable providers, such as concrete suppliers Brisbane, can resist a higher temperature without showing any sign of the deterioration of quality to a certain extent.

While there is no denying the fact that you may need to spend a little more on a quality product, it does not mean spending a fortune. For instance, if you are based in Brisbane, there are ways to keep concrete prices in Brisbane within your reach.

Furthermore, you can consider taking certain steps to keep things under your control. For getting desired results while pouring concrete in sultry weather conditions, consider taking the steps given below.

Measures to be taken during Pouring Concrete in Hot Weather

• At first, you need to erect temporary windbreaks which limit the wind velocities and try to keep fix sunshades in order to reduce concrete surface temperature.
• You can add cool aggregates and mixing water to the concrete mixture which will reduce its initial temperature to a smaller extent.
• Ensure that you have enough workers to minimize the time to place and finish the concrete, because hot weather conditions mostly decrease the setting time of concrete.
• Try to perform the concrete process in the foggy area which helps you to raise the relative humidity and also satisfy moisture demand of the ambient air.
• Also, provide authentic cutting method after the completion of the concrete placement.
• Always use a concrete consistency which allows rapid consolidation and placement.

Takeaway

No matter how hard you try, the fact remains that hot weather conditions will have a negative effect on your construction material in some way or another. You can keep the effects down to a certain extent by choosing a reliable supplier such as Concrete Brisbane.

By choosing such providers, apart from getting quality material, you can also expect to have proper concrete delivery in Brisbane for the construction of your project.