Can we talk about how everyone says to finish slabs early in the morning, because I poured at 2pm last month and it went fine

Jessica Johnson · 2026-10-01T09:55:04.207991+00:00

I keep hearing guys say you have to start at 5am or the sun will wreck your slab, but last month in Tucson we placed a 40 by 60 pad starting at 2pm and it finished clean. We used a retarder in the mix at 4 ounces per yard and shaded the rebar with wet burlap, and the whole thing pulled in just as nice as any dawn pour I have done in 12 years. The crew gave me grief all morning about waiting so long, and then they all shut up when we got that hard trowel pass done by 7pm without one cold joint. I get that heat is real, I am not saying go pour at noon in July in Phoenix, but this fear of afternoon pours gets guys waking up at 3am for no good reason. The finish is about mix design and timing, not about what the clock says. Has anyone else had a late pour come out better than the early ones, or am I the only one who thinks the sunrise thing is oversold?

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Can we talk about how everyone says to finish slabs early in the morning, because I poured at 2pm last month and it went fine | Concrete Finishers - Chatter Central