House Foundation (contractor, state, building, Phoenix)

[Homeowner68]

I am building a new house. The contractor is a very respected man in the community and all the jobs that he showed to me seem to be good quality homes. Here comes my issue. He just stated building my house and he choose to start building the foundation the day before a heavy rain. Well, the ground was very wet before he started the foundation and once he poured the concrete, it started raining again the next day. Does anyone knows what if I can expect any long term problems? Is it OK to pour the foundation during inclement weather? It didn't rain the day the foundation was poured. Is it normal to place gravel inside the foundation while the home is being built?

[scuba steve]

Moisture actually helps slow the curing process and the result is stronger concrete (fails at a higher compressive PSI). It's a good practice to keep it damp for at least a couple of weeks. So long as the rain wasn't heavy enough to damage anything or make the surface unlevel I'm not seeing any problems here...

[Lovehound]

I agree with Steve. Fresh concrete is often covered with burlap bags and periodically sprayed with water to keep the concrete moist. It can dry out too quickly and get cracks. I'd worry about concrete if it was poured in the height of a Phoenix summer and not kept moist. Concrete is porous. Any water underneath will either seep down in the earth or will seep up and either flow through or react with the concrete and aid its curing.

When you hire experts you should respect their expertise because that's what you hired them for. When you try to second guess them you're pitting a novice against an expert.