Avoid Digging in Frozen Ground

If you have ever tried to dig a hole in rocky terrain, then you already know what it's like trying to dig on frozen ground. Digging in frozen ground will hurt your back (if digging by hand) and your equipment. The PowerBlanket ExtraHot SuperDuty is designed for exactly this situation (more specifically for thawing ground for mortuary services). One ExtraHot SuperDuty PowerBlanket can thaw a depth of 18 inches and an area of 72 square feet of frozen ground overnight.

If the frozen ground where you are digging is covered in snow, the ExtraHot SuperDuty PowerBlanket can melt 5 feet of old snow (that is settled and denser than fresh snow) in approximately three days. Because the PowerBlanket is so durable, it can be walked on, driven over, and dragged without ever receiving damage. This means while the ground is thawing, the PowerBlanket also serves to heat the work area while other jobs are being performed. For best result, the minimum allowable temperature is -40 degrees F.

Winter construction always poses a lot of problems, but with the proper equipment you can make your job site manageable and more efficient. The key is finding products with multiple important usages, to cut down on your materials/equipment costs. The versatility of the PowerBlanket gives your work site the freedom it needs to get winter construction projects finished on schedule with as little bumps as possible along the way.

Concrete Curing Blankets Keep the Project on Scheduled During Cold Winter Months

Winter construction and concrete curing is difficult, especially when temperatures drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The problems get more difficult when building brick walls and curing concrete in masonry projects. Once the temperatures get below this number, the curing of the cement is reduced significantly, and in some cases it stops altogether. Here are a few tips for successfully completing a winter masonry project:

1. Heat the mortar ingredients. The PowerBlanket concrete curing blanket (also available as barrel warmers) is a useful solution for heating mortar ingredients and should be a standard tool for every year-round contractor.
2. Store units in a protected enclosure to prevent freezing. A more sophisticated way to accomplish a protected enclosure is to surround the construction area in poly-draped scaffolding. Freezing can be prevented using any number of the PowerBlanket options depending on the size of the job.
3. Once the mortar has been applied to masonry, keep the temperature above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. A PowerBlanket concrete curing blanket will adequately keep the mortar at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Curing at 70 degrees will make the mortar 3-times stronger than curing at lower temperatures. Multiple PowerBlankets can be attached together to accommodate varying job sizes.

Many other winter precautions are required to be in accordance with code. Some of these involve keeping materials off of the ground and covered. Depending on your specific weather conditions, codes will vary. Be sure to check local codes before beginning any masonry or building projects. 

Don't Let Cold Weather Hamper Your Concrete Curing

One of the most important aspects of curing concrete is keeping the temperature  between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Traditional solutions for this problem include using blankets or straw to keep concrete from freezing in cold weather; or simply delaying a concrete poor until fair weather arrives. For contractors seeking a more reliable long term solution, a PowerBlanket is a must have for every job site. 

The colder the temperature the concrete is exposed to, the longer it will take to set and reach its maximum strength. For example, concrete that is steady at 70 degrees Fahrenheit will set in approximately six hours. Concrete that is at 40 degree Fahrenheit will take 14 hours to reach maximum strength. In addition, concrete that cures at 70 degree Fahrenheit will be almost three times as strong as concrete curing at 40 degrees. Bottom line: for perfect concrete every time, use a PowerBlanket during the curing process.

Thaw the Ground to Facilitate Winter Digging

Snow, ice, debris, trees and shrubs are some of the many obstacles faced when preparing a site for construction. Difficulty increases with frozen, hard ground that becomes impossible to prepare without the use of major machinery. Keeping the site free of snow and ice is another problem that often delays construction schedules and causes damage to newly poured concrete and construction. An electric heat PowerBlanket is an excellent solution to all of these problems.

The SuperDuty PowerBlanket can be easily connected to additional blankets to cover the allotted area. Its durable design allows the blankets to withstand even the harshest conditions, and is as easy to use as unrolling a sleeping bag. The blanket produces fast even heating for melting snow and ice, making ground preparation simple and easy, and to keep your construction site operational. Multiple PowerBlankets may be connected to cover larger areas.