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Concrete Work in Cold Weather

| Posted in General Discussion on December 29, 1998 09:13am

*
We’re building a house in central Illinois. The foundation is poured concrete with a partial basement. The walls were poured last week during mild temperature. It has now turned very cold. The basement floor has not been poured yet and won’t be until the air temp is above freezing. However the ground is frozen. Is there a way to pour the basement under these circumstances? What should I being looking out for as the owner?

We have a very good general contractor, but I would like to be as informed as possible if we have to discuss options. I may be coming back to Breaktime for advice periodically as we proceed. As always I appreciate your insights and advice.

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  1. Bob | Dec 23, 1998 04:43am | #1

    *
    Tent and heat! I live in Colorado at 8500' in elevation and that's the method here. I personally wait till spring to do concrete.

    1. cavemike_ | Dec 23, 1998 05:18am | #2

      *What I have done in the past is frame the first floor and heat the basement with salamanders. It just turned cold here in Indiana so the ground has no really frozen yet. If you can get the framers started soon you shouldn't have much problem.

  2. Guest_ | Dec 23, 1998 07:10am | #3

    *
    Russ, I would go right out and get some 6 Mil poly and some straw and cover that dirt floor right now before it freezes any farther down. Just cover it with the poly and scatter straw about a foot deep on top of the poly. Then heat the basement area after the house is roughed-in and thaw the ground out completely before you pour. The ground will freeze fast and deep, especially if it is heavy soil, and will take a very long time to thaw out if you let it get away from you. Never pour concrete on top of frozen ground! Hurry up!!................

    1. Guest_ | Dec 29, 1998 07:59am | #4

      *Russ I agree with Bob we tent and heat with salermanders here check that your ground is unfrozen and pour away. You can always wait until the house is weathered in and pour throught the window or other opening. Good luck with your house

      1. Guest_ | Dec 29, 1998 11:20am | #5

        *Visqueen plastic sheeting (or those cheap blue tarps) and torpedo heaters are used up here in Alaska to do all manner of concrete out of season. The biggest ones put out 500,000 BTU/hour and have a heat exchanger and therefore blow out only clean air. $380/week to rent, need a 115 volt circuit. The blower can be used to inflate the plastic tent so you only have to weigh down the edges. Since you are trying to heat the bottom of the basement, I'd throw in a couple of criculating fans (oscillating desk fans or those 24" in-a-box ones) to stir the cold air at the bottom.If anyone is going to be working within the tent, get a battery-powered carbon monoxide monitor, in case that heat exchanger has a leak or someone was stupid enough to run heater exhaust into the tent.Note that it not only needs to be above freezing to pour concrete, but also to cure it. Anyone who says, "this is fast curing concrete, it's full strength in one day" is full of it. Yes, there are concretes which cure faster, but all concrete gets stronger the long it is kept moist and above freezing. Some of the toughest concrete I saw was poured as a WPA project (1930's) in a cave. It has been 50 degrees F and 100% humidity for 60 years and getting stronger the whole time. Less strength is gained each day and after a month, you've got >90% of maximum. But in big engineering projects (aquiducts, bridges, dams, etc.) the concrete is kept warm and wet for 28 days.On our house we opted to wait 4 months and save about $5,000. Not just in heating the slab but in banging ice off each sheet of plywood, staging on the roof, trenching through frozen ground, etc.-David

        1. Guest_ | Dec 29, 1998 09:13pm | #7

          *David, No truer words were ever spoken than your last paragraph! Why anyone would build a new house at this time of year (in the real cold climates) is beyond me! I've been working around the weather cycles for almost 30 years and I can tell you there is a world of difference in quality (and cost) when you build in the winter.........

  3. Russ_Jamison | Dec 29, 1998 09:13pm | #6

    *
    We're building a house in central Illinois. The foundation is poured concrete with a partial basement. The walls were poured last week during mild temperature. It has now turned very cold. The basement floor has not been poured yet and won't be until the air temp is above freezing. However the ground is frozen. Is there a way to pour the basement under these circumstances? What should I being looking out for as the owner?

    We have a very good general contractor, but I would like to be as informed as possible if we have to discuss options. I may be coming back to Breaktime for advice periodically as we proceed. As always I appreciate your insights and advice.

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