This is so important we have a section dedicated to it that our clients receive prior to accepting the quote. Concrete only gives us one chance to get it right , once it goes hard , thats what you are left with. On the day we pour there are 2 things we don't want , excessive rain or heat . When the concrete is being poured a little bit of rain is not to bad but a huge heavy downpour can destroy it , there are things we can do save it but the finish will not be as good , the same thing applies to excess heat , anything over 30 degrees with a high UV and the concrete cures faster than we can work with it . What most people are not aware of is the weather matters not just when we pour but while it cures as well , in winter concrete can take up to 6 hours to develop a surface that will repel rain so when we book a concrete pour we want to be certain we have the right weather for the time we need it . Once we start a pour we are committed , we can not stop and come back tomorrow so if the weather forecast says high chance of showers developing late afternoon , we need to make a decision long before we can see what happens . If we delay your pour its not because we don't see you as a priority or your job is not important , its because we care about the quality of the finish and we care about the money you are spending , we want to deliver a finished product you are happy to pay for not a rain damaged mess full of puddles with a sloppy finish

This depends on the application but Generally for a footpath with no vehicle traffic a depth of 80mm is fine , for a driveway or garage that will carry vehicles up to 4.5 Ton then a depth of 100mm is required , most vehicle crossings have a council requirement of 125mm depth . If you intend to drive a heavy vehicle such as a truck or large tractor on the concrete regularly then a 125mm depth would be advisable . For anything 15 Ton or above such as semi trailers or large industrial machinery a depth of 150mm would be sufficient. For most projects that have been issued a planning permit the engineering will have a section called , slab detail, this will outline the engineers requirements for concrete strength , concrete depth and what size reinforcement is required

Concrete cracks due to the pressure exerted on the slab by ground movement . These are usually very small "hairline cracks' that appear in the surface of the concrete. Hairline cracks can also occur as the concrete cures and are usually caused by the concrete going hard to fast , especially during the summer months when the sun has a high UV. It is almost impossible to stop concrete from cracking . We can help prevent it by ensuring the base is prepared correctly , using the correct type and size reinforcement & saw cutting expansion joins at the correct time . The biggest factor is the type of ground the slab is poured on , for eg clay based ground has a higher movement capacity than ground that is primarily rock and shale. As clay gets wet and then drys out it expands and contracts causing excessive ground movement where as ground that contains more rock doesn't move as much