For many parts of the country, the summertime is often the best season to complete construction projects due to stretches of favorable weather. However, the climate here in Columbia, SC can make summer construction a little more difficult, particularly when it comes to placing concrete. The hot temperatures, humidity, and increased chance of rain can make conditions far from ideal for placing concrete for your commercial construction project. However, this doesn’t mean you’ll have to cancel your plans for concrete construction, you just need to implement a few additional strategies.
How Summer Weather Affects Concrete Placement
When it comes to hot temperatures, you’ll need to be intentional about your concrete construction plans. Hot weather can cause concrete to set too quickly, resulting in plastic shrinkage cracking and diminished strength. This cracking occurs as a result of water evaporating rapidly and creating seams in the concrete surface. It can also be harder to find the right water ratio when dealing with hot temperatures, leading to excess water and decreased strength. In addition, hot conditions can become hazardous for your workers, increasing the possibility of heat exhaustion or even heat stroke.
Summer here in Columbia, SC is also the rainiest time of the year, which creates a whole other problem entirely. The last thing you want when allowing concrete to set is for rain to fall onto the surface and mess up your ratios.
Tips for Concrete Construction in the Summer
Whenever possible, try to avoid placing the concrete during the warmest parts of the day. For instance, don’t schedule your concrete placement at noon. Try during the morning before the temperature gets too hot. Even though it may require artificial lighting, placing concrete during the evening provides the largest amount of time for the concrete to set in cooler temperatures.
Have plenty of manpower on hand when it comes time to place your concrete. If you have plenty of people involved during the concrete placement process, you can avoid wasting time and get to the curing process more quickly. You can get all of the concrete place and flattened, and any joints carved into the surface in a timely manner when you have lots of help. Then, waste no time curing the surface of the concrete to reduce the length of heat exposure to the concrete surface.
If you need to get the concrete placement finished during a period of hot weather due to scheduling demands, one strategy that can help you avoid excess water evaporation is to have water misting over the concrete surface before it can be cured. This will prevent the water from evaporating too quickly without messing up the water-to-cement ratio of your mix.
You can also set up sun shades or perhaps even a tent over the site of the concrete placement. This can significantly reduce the temperature over the concrete surface while also making the work day more bearable.
To get a high-quality concrete mix delivered to your work site in a timely manner, don’t hesitate to contact Knight’s Companies.