diff --git a/aws/s3/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/s3/S3ContextBuilder.java b/aws/s3/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/s3/S3ContextBuilder.java
index fbc2d8b571..2ded8eccf3 100644
--- a/aws/s3/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/s3/S3ContextBuilder.java
+++ b/aws/s3/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/s3/S3ContextBuilder.java
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ public class S3ContextBuilder extends
       return (S3ContextBuilder) super.relaxSSLHostname();
    }
 
+   @Override
+   public S3ContextBuilder withRequestTimeout(long milliseconds) {
+      return (S3ContextBuilder) super.withRequestTimeout(milliseconds);
+   }
+
    @Override
    public S3ContextBuilder withExecutorService(ExecutorService service) {
       return (S3ContextBuilder) super.withExecutorService(service);
diff --git a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobContextBuilder.java b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobContextBuilder.java
index 75b33f16b4..4106928262 100755
--- a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobContextBuilder.java
+++ b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobContextBuilder.java
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ public class AzureBlobContextBuilder extends
       return (AzureBlobContextBuilder) super.withPoolMaxConnections(poolMaxConnections);
    }
 
+   @Override
+   public AzureBlobContextBuilder withRequestTimeout(long milliseconds) {
+      return (AzureBlobContextBuilder) super.withRequestTimeout(milliseconds);
+   }
+
    @Override
    public AzureBlobContextBuilder withPoolMaxSessionFailures(int poolMaxSessionFailures) {
       return (AzureBlobContextBuilder) super.withPoolMaxSessionFailures(poolMaxSessionFailures);
diff --git a/blobstore/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/BlobStoreContextBuilder.java b/blobstore/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/BlobStoreContextBuilder.java
index 880e4e2f76..9a85acbdbc 100644
--- a/blobstore/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/BlobStoreContextBuilder.java
+++ b/blobstore/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/BlobStoreContextBuilder.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import org.jclouds.blobstore.domain.Blob;
 import org.jclouds.blobstore.domain.BlobMetadata;
 import org.jclouds.blobstore.domain.ContainerMetadata;
+import org.jclouds.blobstore.reference.BlobStoreConstants;
 import org.jclouds.cloud.CloudContextBuilder;
 
 import com.google.inject.Key;
@@ -54,6 +55,14 @@ public abstract class BlobStoreContextBuilder<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M
       return (BlobStoreContextBuilder<S, C, M, B>) super.withHttpMaxRedirects(httpMaxRedirects);
    }
 
+   /**
+    * longest time a single synchronous operation can take before throwing an exception.
+    */
+   public BlobStoreContextBuilder<S, C, M, B>  withRequestTimeout(long milliseconds) {
+      properties.setProperty(BlobStoreConstants.PROPERTY_BLOBSTORE_TIMEOUT, Long.toString(milliseconds));
+      return this;
+   }
+   
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    @Override
    public BlobStoreContextBuilder<S, C, M, B> withHttpMaxRetries(int httpMaxRetries) {
diff --git a/blobstore/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/integration/internal/BaseContainerIntegrationTest.java b/blobstore/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/integration/internal/BaseContainerIntegrationTest.java
index 110dc9e369..a0caee7aff 100755
--- a/blobstore/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/integration/internal/BaseContainerIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/blobstore/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/integration/internal/BaseContainerIntegrationTest.java
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
    public void testPutTwiceIsOk() throws Exception {
       String containerName = getContainerName();
       try {
-         context.getBlobStore().createContainer(containerName).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
-         context.getBlobStore().createContainer(containerName).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().createContainer(containerName).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().createContainer(containerName).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
       } finally {
          returnContainer(containerName);
       }
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
       String containerName = getContainerName();
       try {
          addBlobToContainer(containerName, "test");
-         context.getBlobStore().deleteContainer(containerName).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().deleteContainer(containerName).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
          assertNotExists(containerName);
       } finally {
          recycleContainer(containerName);
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
    public void deleteContainerIfEmpty() throws Exception {
       final String containerName = getContainerName();
       try {
-         context.getBlobStore().deleteContainer(containerName).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().deleteContainer(containerName).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
          assertNotExists(containerName);
       } finally {
          // this container is now deleted, so we can't reuse it directly
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
       String containerName = getContainerName();
       try {
          add15UnderRoot(containerName);
-         SortedSet<M> container = context.getBlobStore().listBlobs(containerName).get(10,
+         SortedSet<M> container = context.getBlobStore().listBlobs(containerName).get(60,
                   TimeUnit.SECONDS);
          assertEquals(container.size(), 15);
       } finally {
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
       for (char letter = 'a'; letter <= 'z'; letter++) {
          B blob = context.newBlob(letter + "");
          blob.setData(letter + "content");
-         context.getBlobStore().putBlob(containerName, blob).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().putBlob(containerName, blob).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
       }
    }
 
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
       for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++) {
          B blob = context.newBlob(i + "");
          blob.setData(i + "content");
-         context.getBlobStore().putBlob(containerName, blob).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().putBlob(containerName, blob).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
       }
    }
 
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ public class BaseContainerIntegrationTest<S, C extends ContainerMetadata, M exte
       for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
          B blob = context.newBlob(prefix + "/" + i);
          blob.setData(i + "content");
-         context.getBlobStore().putBlob(containerName, blob).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+         context.getBlobStore().putBlob(containerName, blob).get(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
       }
    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/rackspace/cloudfiles/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/rackspace/cloudfiles/CloudFilesContextBuilder.java b/rackspace/cloudfiles/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/rackspace/cloudfiles/CloudFilesContextBuilder.java
index 367c1497dd..0862a2f955 100644
--- a/rackspace/cloudfiles/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/rackspace/cloudfiles/CloudFilesContextBuilder.java
+++ b/rackspace/cloudfiles/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/rackspace/cloudfiles/CloudFilesContextBuilder.java
@@ -68,9 +68,14 @@ public class CloudFilesContextBuilder
 
    @Override
    public CloudFilesContextBuilder relaxSSLHostname() {
-      return (CloudFilesContextBuilder) (CloudFilesContextBuilder) super.relaxSSLHostname();
+      return (CloudFilesContextBuilder) super.relaxSSLHostname();
    }
 
+   @Override
+   public CloudFilesContextBuilder withRequestTimeout(long milliseconds) {
+      return (CloudFilesContextBuilder) super.withRequestTimeout(milliseconds);
+   }
+   
    @Override
    public CloudFilesContextBuilder withExecutorService(ExecutorService service) {
       return (CloudFilesContextBuilder) super.withExecutorService(service);
@@ -160,7 +165,7 @@ public class CloudFilesContextBuilder
 
    @Override
    public CloudFilesContextBuilder withEndpoint(URI endpoint) {
-      return (CloudFilesContextBuilder) (CloudFilesContextBuilder) RackspaceContextBuilder
+      return (CloudFilesContextBuilder) RackspaceContextBuilder
                .withEndpoint(this, endpoint);
    }