More Tips For Working With Concrete
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In the first article about tips for working with concrete we learned about the very first ways you will make a mistake when you begin to work with concrete mixes and finishing concrete. This article looks to build on this information with 3 MORE tips for how to work with concrete. Working with concrete does not need to be hard. There are basic versions of concrete that you can make and use where there is not all that much to know...but on the other end of the spectrum concrete is so widely used for so many different applications that there are admixtures available to change pretty much any physical property about the mix that you can think to name. While you might never need to get into engineered concrete mixes with densified silica fume and fly ash (or you might) there are a few pretty common concrete admixtures that you will want to familiarize yourself with early on.
In the first article and video, and in the very first example you learned about the incredible importance of hydration in concrete and how it relates to the finished quality and strength of the concrete. This article takes this hydration principle further and looks at three more ways that the hydration levels in concrete need to be carefully established and maintained. There are many other important aspects to know about how to work with concrete but surely the first that you need to really nail down is hydration and unfortunately there are many factors that can affect it. Let's look at some of those now:
Is it safe to work with concrete? -
Before we jump into three (more) concrete working tips first I want to cover an important question about safety. Is it safe to work with concrete? It can be. It is supposed to be. However if you do not wear personal protective gear then you can be exposed to silica dust, and if you do not protect your skin or wash off the concrete that gets on you then you can end up with a pretty bad chemical burn. Not everyone is affected by concrete burn so it can lead some people to believe it is not a big deal to have wet concrete right on your skin for extended periods of time. This is like someone with darker skin tones being able to be in the sun without shade or sunblock. Some people do not seem to be affected but another (perhaps fair skinned person) who attempts to be in the same sun without protection can end up in the hospital with sun poisoning or sun stroke. Do not test yourself to see if you can withstand the alkaline concrete on your skin lest you end up needing skin grafts to cover up your mistake. Protect yourself when working with concrete, wear protective gear, wash off concrete promptly, and do not attempt to operate tools or machinery of which you have not received adequate training. Other than these cautions, yes it is safe to work with concrete. More people build things out of concrete than any other material on the planet so definitely many people manage to work with concrete safely and so can you.
Concrete Working Tip 1) Start your day mixing and pouring concrete early to avoid excessive heat
There are a few reasons why you will want to start your day early when you are mixing and pouring concrete. First mixing, placing and finishing concrete is hard work to be sure. If it is hot where you live then you will want to start early just out of self preservation. However the concrete itself also needs you to start early. As discussed in earlier tips the hydration levels in the concrete are extremely important. If you attempted to pour your concrete at the peak of the mid day sun and heat then you could anticipate that your concrete will heat up too fast as well as lose a great deal of the hydration that we want it to hold. Deprived of water the concrete will be much more inclined to crack, especially small surface fissures throughout the pour. Starting your day early with a concrete pour is important as it allows time for mixing and placing of the concrete while it is still cool and shaded and by the time the heat of the sun is overhead hopefully the concrete has started to actuate already. Once the concrete is hard it is less susceptible to damage from dehydration. If you have manage to have all of the concrete poured before any sun is on it that would be the ideal situation. If that is simply not possible on your pour then you might want to consider setting up sun shades to keep the direct sunlight off of the wet concrete.
Concrete Working Tip 2) Saturate the area you are going to pour concrete with water before you start
As you are learning in these concrete working tips the amount of moisture in the concrete is very important. When it comes time to start your concrete pour you must first prepare the area where you will be pouring to be "SSD" conditions. SSD stands for saturated, surface dry. This means that you have completely soaked the area where you will be pouring concrete to the point where it is completely saturated and will absorb no more water. However it is important to not continue to add water and now allow it to start pooling on the surface. This is the "surface dry" part of SSD. You want the ground to be like a wet sponge completely full so it can not absorb any more water, but you do not want actual pools of water on the surface as this could make the concrete too watery in that location. By achieving SSD conditions before you pour your concrete you can be sure that the moisture you added to your mix will stay there and not be stolen away by dry environmental conditions. In some cases as with concrete or sand you might want to wet it down a few times over the day prior to pouring concrete to really give that area a chance to saturate fully.
Concrete Working Tip 3) Continue to water your new concrete slab for at least a week following the initial pour
Continuing with the trend of talking about the hydration of concrete something that most concrete projects would benefit from is wet curing of the concrete over the days and weeks following the initial pour. Water is needed as part of the chemical actuation and curing of the concrete. By adding water the day after pouring you are providing the concrete with more water to continue the chemical actuation. You can hear fresh concrete sigh with relief as you water it as it is very thirsty and will readily absorb any water that you add. The first week after pouring is the most important time to be wet curing the concrete, and this is something that you can do many times every day during this first week. In some situations wet curing for longer may be beneficial however most concrete will only need a week or so of wet curing. It is worth noting that this is generic advice and there are some specialty concrete applications (and admixtures) that are not compatible with wet curing. This is why it is important to understand the admixtures used in your mix to know if any of them (like latex / acrylic) say to avoid wet curing in all but windy conditions. In general wet curing is something that is good for most concrete projects.
With the implementation of these tips, as well as the initial 3 tips for working with concrete you are much more likely to experience success with your project. Of course these tips only represent the beginning of an entire world of information that you would need to learn to become proficient with working with concrete. Such is the nature of such a widely used and technically variable construction medium. With a little practice and a lot of hard work you can start working with concrete around your home and for various hobby projects. It might be a while before you try to build your own concrete pool but the learning process has to start somewhere, and learning strong fundamentals about concrete working will give you a solid foundation to build on.
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