Ran into a retired finisher at a hardware store in Tacoma who had a wild tip about cold weather pours

He saw me looking at accelerators and told me about a job he did back in '92 where they used heated blankets under the forms for a driveway in 28-degree weather. Said they kept the pour at 55 degrees for the first 48 hours just by wrapping the whole pad. Ever tried something like that on a residential job?

3 comments

3 Comments

hart.parker26d ago

That heated blanket trick is clever for a driveway. Did he say what they used for a heat source under there? I've seen guys run hot water hoses in a pinch, but blankets sound way easier to set up. Keeping a whole pad at 55 degrees for two days in a freeze is no joke.

shane_williams25d ago

Yeah keeping the pad at 55 is the real trick. Everyone's talking heat sources but nobody's asking about the insulation under the slab. If the ground below is frozen, you're just pouring heat into the earth. You'd need a thermal break down there too, or that blanket is fighting a losing battle. It's not just what's on top, it's what's underneath that'll kill your efficiency.

stella90410d ago

Yeah, the insulation part is what gets you.