Over the last few weeks, we’ve had a good few days of sunshine and some high(ish) temperatures and unsurprisingly we’ve had our annual rise in calls regarding the concrete setting quickly and asking the question, how is it possible to get more time?

Unfortunately there is no ‘magic’ cure.

Nice as the sunshine is, it does make the concrete set much quicker. We all know how differently the concrete will set if it is in the shade of a building, or the areas out in the direct sun. In fact often people will start printing the area in the sun first, even if it isn’t the most logical place to start, just because they know if they don’t, they won’t have a print in it at all if they wait to print the shaded area first.

Now, (before you say it), I know it’s hassle etc etc, but why not erect a shade to work under? It’s not a shelter to protect from the rain. That can be difficult. Just a tarpaulin or similar tied up (any old how), to keep the concrete (and you) in the shade. It will be like laying concrete on a cloudy day.

If you’ve got nothing to tie your tarp to, make some weights. Get a dozen old Release Agent buckets, fill with some left over concrete, make a hole in the concrete the size of a scaffold pole and hey presto, place these around the job, and you’ve got something to tie to. (A couple of bits of bent rebar sticking out of the top to act as handles to make lifting them easier).

There will of course always be lots and lots of reasons you’ll come up with why you can’t do it. But, if you do go through the ‘hassle’ and do it, it will be a cool thing to do when the suns out and you’ll be able to do more, better quality work, with less effort and stress.

Dr Concrete