Showerthought: That scorching July week nearly ruined me...

Back in July of 2022 we had a five day stretch where temps hit 102 every afternoon here in Phoenix. I was finishing a driveway for a guy off 32nd Street and the concrete was setting up so fast I couldn't keep a decent edge on it. By the third day I started mixing in a retarder just to buy myself an extra 10 minutes of work time. The worst part was the wind kept picking up around 2 PM and dust kept sticking to the surface before I could get a broom finish down. I had to resoak the whole slab and re-broom it three times on Thursday alone. My foreman actually said "if you don't slow down you're gonna burn yourself out" but I was just trying to get it done. Anyone else ever deal with concrete setting up too fast in extreme heat like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavine4129d agoTop Commenter

Had a buddy in Tucson lose a whole patio pour when it cooked off before he could get the float on it.

sam_rivera28d ago

Man, that's rough. @gavine41 I know that pain, had a buddy in Phoenix lose a whole driveway slab the same way, sun came up and wrecked it before he even got the pour finished.