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Concrete slab pour over winter months - recommended?


markharro

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Annoyingly we are too late to pour our insulated slab now before probably January at the earliest and I face a dilemma. We intend to use the powerfloated surface as our final floor surface so any cracks etc during curing as going to be an issue. We are in Edinburgh so Jan and Feb are the worst months to be contemplating this but everything moves so so slowly in this game that's where we are. I know you can put in admixtures to be able to pour in colder weather but I understand that this can increase the risk of cracks etc. So what do we do? Take a big risk or delay any further progress yet again until the spring proper? thanks

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Winter pours are no problem, construction doesn’t stop in cold weather. Consecutive days of minus temps should be avoided for a pour but other than that only torrential rain would cause a problem.

Slab as finished floor is likely to get damaged during the build so gouges and deep scrapes would be the main concern. No UFH? 

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One of the issues is that the company laying the slab are based in England and won't be happy if they had to wait to do the pour until the temp relented.

 

Yes we have thought about that but Its a SIP build and after the frame is up we will be doing a lot of the finishing ourselves so we will only have ourselves to blame if we damage the surface.

 

Yes we are putting in UFH - it goes in 50mm below the concrete surface level.

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It's only an issue if temperature will drop below 5 degrees and falling. If that's the case wait until temperature is 5 degrees and rising (ie the morning), use additives if needed and once the reaction is underway the exothermic component will keep things warm until the cure is well underway. 

 

Cold weather construction is a well understood issue but it does need to be dealt with properly. 

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On 29/10/2022 at 20:38, markharro said:

Its ok its the same company doing slab and the SIP instal!

Could I ask which company do a SIPS and foundation package? I was only aware of MBC - but that's timber frame only.

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Thanks, SIPS are a sandwich of OSB typically with a foam core - the whole panel is rigid and they slot together. MBC build a traditional frame (of individual panels) and fill it either on site or in their factory with dry insulation. Both have pro's and con's but quite different.

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