10-18-2015, 03:36 AM
Hi jd and welcome to Big Blue, its a good place to be, lots of interesting stuff, friendly people with a whole range of knowledge on different topics.
Having worked in building and construction, I can verify doctorwayne's method of casting and his observations on the colour of concrete.
Would you believe that when freshly poured at the initial set and for the first 24 hours or so, concrete is actually green both in colour and how it is described.
This is the time to strip formwork and also clean threads on holding down bolts, as the concrete is easy to clean off or chip away and the curing slab provides
warmth to any residual curing water so your hands dont get cold. Leave it a day or two longer and it becomes a different story and the water is now cold. No fun.
The slab then goes very white, blindingly so in the harsh Australian light, and then after another couple of days it finally starts to go concrete grey and then dirty
from all the building activity going on. This describes natural, run of the mill, non coloured concrete, concrete with mix plant added colour plays differently.
Then over the years concrete ages and gets all sorts of stuff spilled on it or ground into it and takes on a very unique character.
An example of this would be where the roof overhangs a concrete path/driveway it remains remarkably clean and smooth, but where exposed to the rain it becomes
dirty looking with a rougher finish.
Start looking, I mean really looking at the concrete things around you and you will notice just how varied it is.
Mark
Having worked in building and construction, I can verify doctorwayne's method of casting and his observations on the colour of concrete.
Would you believe that when freshly poured at the initial set and for the first 24 hours or so, concrete is actually green both in colour and how it is described.
This is the time to strip formwork and also clean threads on holding down bolts, as the concrete is easy to clean off or chip away and the curing slab provides
warmth to any residual curing water so your hands dont get cold. Leave it a day or two longer and it becomes a different story and the water is now cold. No fun.
The slab then goes very white, blindingly so in the harsh Australian light, and then after another couple of days it finally starts to go concrete grey and then dirty
from all the building activity going on. This describes natural, run of the mill, non coloured concrete, concrete with mix plant added colour plays differently.
Then over the years concrete ages and gets all sorts of stuff spilled on it or ground into it and takes on a very unique character.
An example of this would be where the roof overhangs a concrete path/driveway it remains remarkably clean and smooth, but where exposed to the rain it becomes
dirty looking with a rougher finish.
Start looking, I mean really looking at the concrete things around you and you will notice just how varied it is.
Mark
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