South today and you will see many homes built using this material. Europe and you will also discover things that built with stone and masonry materials can last for thousands of years.
Fly ash reduces concretes’ permeability and increases its resistance to sulfate attack and alkali-silica reaction. It is therefore important to know how to adjust the amount of fly ash to minimize the drawbacks, while maximizing the benefits. With most concrete, even at 50°, this happens during the second day.
Specify the slump at less than 4 inches and use air entrained concrete to reduce bleeding.
Addition of 2% (by weight of cement) of calcium chloride is the traditional way to accelerate the hydration reaction-it is very effective and reasonably cheap.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that accelerators are anti-freeze agents-they are not, they simply increase the rate of the hydration reaction.
When the weather is warm, the reaction proceeds quickly. The water in the mix floats to the top, since it’s the lightest ingredient.
Weigh concrete advantages of a block house
Using a concrete curing blanket can eliminate the potential of freezing.
There are things we can do to “speed things up” and mimic those warm weather set times.
Never pour concrete on hard, frozen ground.
Hot/Cold Weather Masonry Featuring master mason Bryan Light, the “Brick Masonry Techniques for Builders” DVD demonstrates …Winter Weather and Using Fly Ash – Disadvatages Masonry In Cold Climates
The positive attributes of concrete block far outweigh any negatives aspects. Almost all houses and other buildings are constructed with concrete blocks such as these. We have had 631 earthquakes in 2013 and very little damage. I was looking for the material they use here to surface the inside and outside of these blocks. It makes it difficult to do things like add electrical outlets or put in any extra plumbing after the fact. There are telling me that the only way it goes up is 4 inch block bottom to top. It may also be appropriate to adjust the concrete mixture constituents for the effect of ambient temperature on setting time. But in the end, temperatures below 50 degrees are too cold for an ideal cure.
Hot And Cold Weather Masonry Techniques