Guy at the gas station in Bakersfield saved me from pouring a slab I would've had to jackhammer out
I was loading a mixer at the pump about a month ago, headed to pour a 12x20 shed pad in Bakersfield, and an older finisher I'd never met noticed my water jug and asked how far the pour was. I told him about 25 minutes and he said flat out, do not add water at the site, batch it wet at the plant or you'll get a cold joint and crusting before you can even get a mag on it. He was right. I'd been doing that drive with a dry mix and topping off with the hose for two years and never put together why my edges were crumbling on hot afternoons. He told me he ran crews in the Central Valley for 30 years and watched guys ruin pads every summer doing exactly what I was about to do. I ended up calling the plant and ordering it at a 5 inch slump instead of a 4, and that pour finished cleaner than anything I've done all year. If I hadn't stopped to top off my diesel I'd have been out there with a breaker bar on Monday. How do you all handle slump on longer hauls without it sitting up on you?