Found a trick for smoothing out cold joints using pickle juice

Yeah, pickle juice. I was working a slab in Moline last August and had this nasty cold joint forming because I got held up waiting on the truck. Tried a light mist of water like usual, nothing. On a whim I grabbed the pickle juice from my lunch, gave it a quick spray, and the new concrete actually bit into it way better than water. Has anyone else tried something weird like that for cold joints?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan8223d ago

Uh, pickle juice is mostly water and vinegar so that makes sense chemically but I wouldn't call it a real trick.

olivia47822d ago

I read somewhere that brine has trace calcium from the pickling process, which might help with the chemical bond. @ivan82 is probably right that it's not a real trick, but if it works on a hot day in Moline when the truck is late, I'd call it a win anyway. Vinegar does lower pH slightly which could help the matrix grab the old surface better than straight water.