Job in Phoenix last summer taught me to never trust a wet sand mix again

We poured a retaining wall at a house near Camelback Mountain and the whole face blew out three days later because the sand we used had too much moisture in it from an overnight storm - has anyone else dealt with a bad batch of sand that looked fine but ruined your work?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas_scott9d ago

You ever had a buddy lose a whole driveway pour because a storm rolled through an hour after the truck showed up?

anthonykim9d ago

Man, @thomas_scott that exact thing happened to my cousin in 2019. He had a crew pour a big slab for a workshop, and the weather report said clear skies all day. Truck shows up, they finish pouring and screeding, and then out of nowhere a thunderstorm pops up maybe 45 minutes later. The rain just beat that fresh concrete into a mess, pitted it all over, and the edges started crumbling. He had to rip the whole thing out and start over, cost him an extra two grand just for the tear out and disposal. Best advice I can give is always check the radar yourself the morning of, not just the forecast from last night. And if you see even a small chance of rain, have a big tarp ready and some stakes to hold it down, that can save you from this headache.