Finally figured out why my slabs were chipping at the edges in Phoenix heat

Took me about 6 months of fighting with chipping edges on a big driveway job last summer. Turned out I was waiting too long to start the edging process in that dry desert air. Once I started running the edger within 20 minutes of pouring, the problem basically vanished. Anyone else have to relearn their timing when working in a crazy hot climate?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.emma1d ago

Man that timing change is brutal and it's wild how specific the window gets. @walker.rowan your 15 minute mark is pretty much what I landed on too, but I found that even the angle of the sun made a difference on my job. I was working a big driveway that faced south and had no shade at all, so the concrete on one end would start setting way faster than the other end. Had to run back and forth with the edger and a wet burlap to keep things even, felt like I was in a race against the sun every single pour. The spray bottle trick is smart, I ended up just keeping a bucket of water and a sponge in my back pocket for touching up the edges that dried out too fast. Once you get that timing dialed in though, it's like a whole different trade.

walker.rowan1d ago

Ngl, I went through almost the exact same thing when I was doing a long stretch of highway work down in Tucson a couple years back. That dry heat just sucks the moisture right out of the concrete before you even get a chance to breathe. I learned real quick that my normal timing from working up in the Midwest was basically useless down there. Had to start running the edger within 15 minutes of finishing the pour, and I'd keep a spray bottle handy to mist the edges if they started looking too stiff. It's a total game changer once you adjust, but man it takes some trial and error to get the feel for it.