Any potential problems with slab pour in cold weather???

Hello guys,

I just wanted to see if anyone can shed some information on the effects of pouring a concrete slab in cold weather? I tried searching the archives here but I could only find information about pouring a slab in hot weather. Basically I was surprised to find that my slab was poured today. It had been raining on Saturday so the soil was a bit on the damp side. The weather today in Melbourne was only 14 degrees and for the next few days will top around 11-12 degrees and hit lows of 7-8 degrees overnight. It’s also forecast to rain. Should I be concerned about this? Are there any potential problems or things I should look out for??

Cheers,
Michael

I think it sounds like ideal weather for a pour.
I worked in ther Blue Mountains for years and this is pretty standard. As long as it is not close to zero you should not have anything to worry about.
As far as I know, the slower concrete sets the stronger it is. And the rain will only be good for it- as long as it has initially set (say 1 day).
Cheers,
Dennis

Thanks for that Dennis... makes perfect sense. Now I can sleep easy!

make sure you pour plenty of water to avoid crack.

Slow set is good. Also some rain on the slab is great after the initial cure. Setting concrete soaks up a lot of moisture and some rain can help prevent cracking.

this shouldn't be required if it is cold and wet already.

I had mine poured at this time last year ... I was worried too since we do drop below zero out here ... but all the info I found seemed to suggest that cold was better for concrete ... it sets slower and that's supposed to be better. There were no issues with mine.

The whole thing about watering slabs is to make them dry slower!

Try looking at overseas websites ... they deal with much colder than we have here!