Help me Tim!
I am in the process of having a house built and the foundation was poured just before Thanksgiving. There has been a delay and since that delay, the soil around the poured foundation has not been replaced leaving the outside walls exposed since that time. My question is: Will this have any adverse side effects? The temperatures have been extremely cold and we have had several small snowfalls. Any guidance will be extremely helpful.
Brian
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Brian,
You should go read my past column about Cold Weather and Concrete. The biggest concern I always have is frost heave damage. When you leave foundations and footers exposed, the soil beneath them can freeze. Depending upon your location and the soil type, the heaving may be minimal. If everything heaves at once and then settles at once - and it probably will since there has yet to be any backfilling - then you should be fine.
The bigger concern in my mind would be pre-mature backfilling before the concrete has gained sufficient strength. I talk about this in the column. Fortunately you are in the clear here as well.
Tim Carter
www.askthebuilder.com
W3ATB