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Just realized that wet curing blankets might actually be worth the hassle after 8 pours in Boise
I used to think wet curing blankets were just something old timers pushed because they were set in their ways, and for years I'd just hit my slabs with a curing compound and call it good. Then last summer I had a 4,000 square foot warehouse pour in Boise during a stretch of 95 degree days, and the client's rep kept pushing me to try blankets overnight. I finally gave in and covered half the slab with blankets and left the other half with just compound. Three days later the blanket side was noticeably harder and had way fewer hairline cracks along the control joints. The compound side already had a few map cracks showing up near the edges. So now I'm wondering if I've been leaving money on the table for a decade. But here's the debate: is it really the blanket doing the work, or is it just that I actually paid attention to the timing for once? And are blankets worth it on smaller residential jobs where you're not fighting extreme temps? I'd like to hear from guys who run blankets year round versus guys who think it's overkill below a certain square footage.
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piperr5815d ago
I was in the same camp for years, figured blankets were just something the old guys did because that's how they learned it, and I got by fine with compound on most jobs. What changed my mind was a 60 yard pour in Twin Falls last October where the night temps dropped to 38 and the blanket side hit 3,000 psi a full day before the other side, which told me it's not just timing, the blanket is doing real work. On small residential stuff under a thousand feet I still skip them if the weather's mild, but anything bigger or anything fighting heat or cold gets covered now.
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