Site practice 4 min read
Storing steel and cement through a Malnad monsoon
Material bought well and stored badly is money burned. Four months of humidity is unforgiving to both cement and steel.
Short answer
Stack cement on planks clear of the floor, away from external walls, covered, and use it within about three months of the bag date. Keep TMT off the ground on timber sleepers with a slight fall so water runs off, and cover it if it will sit for weeks. Light surface rust on bar is normal; flaking scale is not.
Cement: the three-month clock
Cement absorbs moisture from the air, not just from rain. Every week in a humid store costs strength. Buy against your pour schedule rather than stockpiling, keep the stack off the floor on planks, leave a gap from external walls, and cover it. Treat three months from the bag date as the outer limit.
Cement: what a lumped bag means
If lumps crush back to powder between your fingers, the bag has taken a little moisture and lost some strength. If they do not crush, that bag is scrap — using it in structural concrete is not a saving.
Steel: rust that matters and rust that does not
A light orange film on TMT is surface oxidation and is generally acceptable; it can even improve bond slightly. What is not acceptable is flaking scale that comes away in sheets and leaves pitting, because that has eaten into the section. Store bar off the ground on sleepers, with a fall so water drains rather than pools.
Roofing sheet: stack it dry and sloped
Coated sheet stacked flat and wet develops white storage stain between the sheets, which is difficult to remove and looks bad on a finished roof. Stack with a slight slope, separated, under cover, and fix it soon after delivery.
The cheapest insurance on any site
An HDPE tarpaulin. It costs a fraction of one cement bag and protects the whole stack, and it doubles as slab curing cover once the pour is done.
