Concrete gains strength by curing, which means holding onto its water long enough for the chemistry to finish. A West Texas summer afternoon pulls that water out fast. Pour at 2 p.m. in July with a 20-mile-an-hour wind and you can get surface cracking, a weak top layer, and a finish that never looks right.
That's why we schedule summer pours at first light. Cooler concrete, cooler forms, and a couple of hours before the sun and wind get serious. It's also why being open 24/7 isn't a slogan for us: early pours are how the job gets done right in this climate.
During the pour we work fast and in sequence, screeding and floating right behind the placement so no section sits too long. On big slabs we bring enough hands to finish the whole pour before the first part sets up.
After finishing, curing matters as much as anything. Depending on the job we'll spray a curing compound, keep the surface damp, or cover it, and we tell you exactly how long to keep water and traffic off it.
If you're getting bids, ask each contractor what time they plan to pour and how they'll cure. The answers tell you a lot about whether they've worked through a Permian Basin summer before.