How to Use Ready-Mix Concrete in the Winter

While winter may not be the best season to use ready-mix concrete, there are times when you cannot avoid it. So, if you need to do some urgent repair, finding ready-mix suppliers near me is the first step. Once you have a reliable and trustworthy supplier who will supply the ready-mix concrete, you must also know more before using it in the winter.

Winter Ready-Mix is Different from Regular Ready-Mix Concrete

Concrete uses hydration to produce heat, which prevents it from freezing, developing cracks or losing its strength in cold weather. Finding the right ready-mix concrete supplier is the first step after you decide to use concrete in winter.

Experienced ready-mix suppliers will make it a point to heat the concrete when they are mixing the different ingredients. This heat will compensate for the low outdoor temperature, and ensure the concrete does not deteriorate during the delivery process. Look for reliable and knowledgeable ready-mix suppliers near me to ensure they make use of heated water tanks so that you get warm concrete mix delivered to you.

In addition, the concrete mix has to be adapted not just to the project you are undertaking, but also to the outdoor temperature. Most ready mixes make use of accelerators that hasten the setting process, and allow the concrete to set more quickly than regular concrete and water inducing additives. Stay away from suppliers who use slag cement and fly ash in their concrete mix as these ingredients slow down the setting process of concrete, and do not even generate sufficient internal heat for the concrete to set.

Remember, an experienced and reliable ready-mix supplier will not hesitate to inform you about how they prepare the mix for winter. They will also be willing to add extra cement to the mix as it helps to generate more heat.

Pouring the Concrete

While winter is not the best time to pour concrete, sometimes it is unavoidable. So, make sure you never pour the concrete on the frozen or iced ground. Instead, look to unfreeze the ground using heated pipes. When the ground thaws, remove excess water using a squeegee or a vacuum that can suck out the water.

Triple wrap the edges, and then pour the concrete at the site. After pouring and leveling, cover the entire site to protect it from the cold. The site should stay covered until the concrete cures.

For more details on ready-mix concrete or to place an order for your next project, contact Bayshore Materials Inc. at 707-644-0859.