tylermurray•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Powdered accelerators always seemed like snake oil to me until last winter

I was skeptical of those powdered accelerators you mix into the batch. Always figured they were just a gimmick for cold weather pours. But after a job in Minneapolis last December where we had to get a sidewalk done before a freeze hit at 4 PM, the boss made me use the Sika brand stuff. Set up in about 3 hours with no cracking, which saved the whole pour. Has anyone else had good luck with a specific brand or am I the only one who was late to the game?

2 comments

2 Comments

piperr581mo ago

Oh I gotta disagree here. I've been burned by those accelerators too many times. Yeah they set fast but I've seen them cause hairline cracks down the road because the chemical reaction is too aggressive. The Sika stuff might work for a quick sidewalk patch but for anything with real weight or a bigger slab I'd rather just use hot water and insulated blankets like we always did. I get why people use them in a pinch but calling them a lifesaver feels like a stretch to me. They're a band-aid fix not a real solution for proper cold weather work.

miab871mo ago

Did I just marry a set of those Sika bags and skip the blankets? Regretting it hard now.