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Concrete Decor - Index

Concrete Decor - Concrete Decor Magazine, The Journal for Decorative Concrete - Index

STAMPING
Photo courtesy of CCS Decorative Concrete
in Cold Weather
Photo courtesy of CCS Decorative Concrete
58 | www.ConcreteDecor.net | Dec. ’07/Jan. ’08
by Chris Camara
Contractors working in the northern
United States and Canada have
three words of advice when it comes
to stamping concrete in cold weather:
Wait until Spring.
But that’s not always possible.
While residential customers can often
be persuaded to wait for more favorable
conditions, some commercial projects
must get done no matter how bad the
weather gets.
Considerations for winter stamping
include not only temperature and
humidity, but the condition of the
subgrade, the cementitious content
of the concrete, different set times,
and freeze-thaw cycles after the job
is complete.
Ian Paine, marketing director
for Lafarge North America, says it’s
not unusual to do fl atwork in cold
temperatures as early as September
in Canada. He suggests covering the
subgrade with an insulated tarp, or at
least a straw and tarp combination, to
keep the moisture out ahead of time.
A cold subgrade will pull the heat out
of concrete, so one of the best things