Carving in the heat

[Dion Battles]

I would like to hear the tricks of the trade when it comes to carving in the heat of summer. What should a guy do to prevent certain things? Should I cover my work by using some type shade or is it OK that the sun beats on it? I heard someone say to add ice to my water that I mix the mud with? Is that true?
 I look forward to hearing what every one has to say. I have stated a project that is in the direct sun all day and it is 90-100 degrees this next week.

 Thank you

[Tru Pac/Walttools/Don]

Dion, that is a brutal condition for vertical. Good luck, especially if it has been dry out. Most mixes will retain the underlying moisture for a decent period of time(if thickness permits) but the surface is the most delicate. Draping plastic as to go certainly helps, although it can be a hindrance for you visually. Light(LIGHT) misting of the surface helps. Light means not to the point of runoff. If you have a surface evaporation retarder, that will also help and will not affect your surface. Getting your carve design in quicker can reduce the surface cracking as well. Each carve cut serves a control joint and reduces the pulling stress on the surface.
I'm sure others will add plenty more here.

[Ed Warren]

Good info from Don.
Ok, so you do all you can to keep the annoying little cracks from happening and you still get a few. I make them look purposeful by carving them. The mix is hard and you gotta dig pretty good to get a cut but I think it looks better than a random unwanted crack. I use a utility knife blade and scrape the wiggly little line a bit straighter and deeper.

[Christian Maucieri]

I've been working on a waterfall recently and to prevent the cracks I covered the textured rocks with an old bed sheet soonb after texturing. I then misted the sheet with water and covered over that with a piece of poly. It worked great and didn't do anything to the texture.

[Nathan Giffin Vertical Artisans]

Original 19 from Specco works great too. This is a spray on product that gelatins the water in the mix...If you know you are gonna have those conditions put it in the mix before you start.

[Christian Maucieri]

I'll have to try that. Thanks!

VerticalArtisans.com said:

Original 19 from Specco works great too. This is a spray on product that gelatins the water in the mix...If you know you are gonna have those conditions put it in the mix before you start.