Q&A / 

Pour Concrete in Winter

Curtis Gomes runs a building and remodeling business in Providence, RI just south of where I live. Read what he sent  me:

"At what temperature is it too cold to pour concrete in sonotubes? 30 degrees F?"

Here's my answer:

Curtis, believe it or not, you can pour concrete successfully at much colder temperatures, even down in the single digits!

Your task, however, is to keep the concrete above 32 F until such time as it gets above 500 PSI in strength.

If you're mixing the concrete yourself from bags, you can do two important things:

  • Keep the bags in a VERY WARM place overnight before use
  • Mix the concrete using HOT water

Immediately after the pour, wrap the sonotubes with insulating blankets and cover the top of them with the blankets.

If the sonotubes are in a hole, you can fill the hole with dry straw to really help retain the heat as well. Cover this with plastic or a tarp to keep the straw dry.

READ ALL these past columns of mine for more IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Concrete in Cold Weather

Cold Weather Concrete Tips

Cold Weather Concrete Installation

 

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4 Responses to Pour Concrete in Winter

  1. Jaime G.Obregon says:

    Hi You miss speal my first name please corrct as soon as posible
    and my question about the concret you dinn,t mention concret bloock
    insulantion :spray foome ? or fiber glass panels and secure wirh panels of wire and then plasta with fiber to the water and win do not penetreit
    and be worm.
    please give sam advise.
    Thank you . Jaime.

    • Alan says:

      Wow Jaime - you're worried about someone misspelling your last name? You might want to proof read your own messages before submitting.

  2. bill brown says:

    Tim : can you do a demo on how to repair garage floor that has salt and scale damage to repair floor for epoxy coating so it is level ?

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