On Wednesday, Liz and I saw this sign on a wire fence in Kensington.
Concrete curing
Is the concrete sick? I mused. Then on Thursday, I saw this van
It appears that as well as concrete curing, there’s also
bursting, crunching and scabbling!
Who knew?
Now I did know that concrete has been around for 5000 years - my SIL Denise is a Chemistry teacher, and she has told me all about Roman concrete. Find out about this timeline here
But I have checked out these other concrete words and discovered
that after concrete is put in place, a satisfactory moisture content and temperature (between 50°F and 75°F) must be maintained, a process called curing. Adequate curing is vital to quality concrete.
In modern construction, scabbling is a mechanical process of removing a thin layer of concrete from a structure. It is used to remove road markings, to add a decorative or textured pattern, or to prepare a surface for grouting.[in former times, scabbling was masonry term referring to shaping a stone with an axe or hammer]
Instead of announcing “There are some workman laying concrete on that building site” is seems much more exciting to declare “ooh look at them! they’re curing, crunching and scabbling over there!!!”
I have lived in Cyprus , they say there that concrete is only good for 10 years .
ReplyDeleteThe concrete floors in my Mother's house and many on that estate were not cured sufficiently and consequently the moisture level made the floors rise and crack leaving a huge hole in some houses. Some insurance companies thankfully my mother's included finally covered the work many years later - everything had to come out of the house - even the stairwell for the foundations and floors to be redone.
ReplyDeleteSadly I know quite a lot about concrete :)
L.x.
It does seem as if it is not quite the wonder-material which many people make it out to be. Glad the insurance paid up for your Mum, Lynn - altho it does sound like she had a horrendous time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info about Cyprus, Cottonreel - I wonder if the warmer climate is better, or worse, for concrete than our English damp?