Impact of cold weather? - Impact of cold weather on quality

[MJNeroni]

I'm having a stone wall constructed using stone and mortar.. It has gotten very late in the year and the temperature is in the 40s during the day and 20s during the night. Will the temperature impact the quality of the wall?

[danensis]

If I remember my days of writing specifications correctly the restrictions on laying mortar were "not less than 4 degrees C on a falling thermometer or less than 2 degrees C on a rising thermometer"

[simeonronacrete]

Cement mortars and concretes placed at temperatures below the recommended minimum will never reach their designed strengths and will be less capable of resisting the effects of water, weathering and frost. This means that a mortar used for brick laying may more quickly crumble and weaken and require replacing.

The options are 1) wait until its warmer, 2) protect and heat, 3) use low temperaure cements such sas those (surprise surprise) available from Ronacrete Ltd such as Monoset Powder which works to -10oC or Ronascreed Powder which works to 0oC. Note though, they are more expensive and will be darker than Portland cement mortar.

Hope this assists.

Regards

Simeon