{"id":17,"date":"2026-02-05T21:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andyslandscape.ca\/blog\/?p=17"},"modified":"2026-03-06T18:39:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T02:39:46","slug":"avoid-concrete-work-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andyslandscape.ca\/blog\/avoid-concrete-work-in-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Avoid Concrete Work in Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you work in a garden, sometimes you need to do concrete work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might build stairs or retaining walls, make a pathway, stack blocks to make a wall, or fix the base of a column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But usually, we avoid doing concrete work in winter. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is concrete?<\/strong>
It is a mix of cement, sand, and gravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mixture is combined to make a stone-like material.
The ratio of cement, sand, and gravel changes depending on its use.
For example, smooth finishing concrete does not include gravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make this mixture hard like stone, it needs two things<\/strong>: water and air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without them, cement, sand, and gravel cannot stick together.
Air is everywhere, so the main thing is water.
Mix it well with water, and the concrete is ready to harden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in cold weather, the water freezes.
When water freezes, it expands.
If concrete hardens with frozen water, then thaws later,
it cannot become strong.
It may even crack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, in cold weather, concrete takes much longer to harden.
Concrete that hardens in 1\u20132 hours in summer
can take many days in winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we avoid winter for concrete work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is fast-setting cement<\/strong> that hardens concrete quickly.
But it is expensive and still tricky to use.
You need to keep it warm while it hardens,
and it still takes more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So avoiding winter is better\u2014both for cost and for good results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month ago, a client asked us to fix some cement joints on a retaining wall.
It was urgent, but the wall was not in danger of collapsing.
Since spring was coming soon, we suggested waiting a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the weather is warmer,
and it\u2019s a good time to start the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Andy Lee
Owner of Andy\u2019s Landscape Inc. \u2013 Landscape Contractor in Maple Ridge, BC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you work in a garden, sometimes you need to do concrete work. You might build stairs or retaining walls, make a pathway, stack blocks to make a wall, or fix the base of a column. But usually, we avoid doing concrete work in winter. Why? What is concrete?It is a mix of cement, sand, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-maintenance-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Avoid Concrete Work in Winter?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Concrete work in winter can cause cracks and weak structures. 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