If you got a nice polished finish put some Tompson's water seal on it before you put anything on the floor.
hmmf... what does the thompson's water seal offer concrete? and does it change the color or make the concrete more slick (walking hazard)? tred.
Seal it before you put anything on it. Or better yet, paint your checkboard pattern on it, Like I wished I would have.... Then send me a pic.....
Four weeks seems way outta line......... Closer to a couple of days.......... Maybe 60's Style or another construction worker can have a definate answer. Paul
I pour concrete for a living. Well my crews do. You get 80% of your strength in 10 days. Takes 28 days for it to cure complete. Thats at weather 50 degrees or above. Did you pour conventenal or post tension? Doesn't really matter. What pound did you pour2500 0r 3500? For sure seal it and the surface will stay clean longer. there is a product called sodium silicate that is excellant for concrete. Hardens it up and keeps it from dusting later on if you got too much water in the mix. TP
I just poured a 20 X 36 pad behind my shop......4 weeks ago. I had #3500 concrete poured. The guys I paid to finish it ...( I formed it and had it ready ) said to wait 10 days...... This is in South Carolina, outside in the sun........and does NOT get cooler than the mid 30's at night........and 60 - 70 - 80 in the daytime. Concrete has gone stupid around here...$100 a yard....out of the truck....and that was the good price..... I got it at the low bid county contract price......( I got a buddy to order it .......and I paid ca$h .....)
I thought you had to wait 30 days before putting water seal on concrete? Somehting about moisture coming out during the cure.
Out here in Sacramento 5 sack mud (no fly ash or accelerator) can run between 90 - 100 a yard. Down in the bay it can run 100 - 120 per yard. 6 sack can run a few bucks more . Depending how the weather is you may have wanted to add .25 - .5% (maybe 1%) accelerator if neccessary, though with the temp you had, guess you did not need it. and if gets cold, get those blankets out! When we pour drive slabs for gas stations, we always try to have them wait atleast 5 - 7 days (though our slabs are usually filled with rebar (#4 on 24" centers at minimum) The worst stuff to find right now is peagravel for back fill in tank pits, as all the rain has flooded the quarries.
Good question... How long before I can seal it or paint it? In the Northwest, so we are in the fifities at best during the day.
effect of temperature on concrete strength 73 degrees F 100% in one day 55 degrees F 100% in 28 days 40 degrees F 85% in 28 days 25 degrees F 25 % in 28 day sealer should not be applied until concrete is fully cured. Hope this helps. I used to be commercial concrete contractor. temp. has alot to do with curing time
30 days was the recommendation when my 4000# fibermesh garage floor was poured 3-4yrs ago. Concrete cure really occurs in 2 ways. Initially it gets hard enough to stand on because the water dries out of it. Over time it absorbs Carbon from Carbon Dioxide in the air to chemically harden. If you seal it before that reaction is complete it'll never attain full strength.
Do not use ordinary paint. If you are going to "paint" it, use two part epoxy or something like it. Acid etch the floor before finishing.
like TP said "You get 80% of your strength in 10 days. Takes 28 days for it to cure complete." if you want to get technical, it would depend on mix strength, temperature, re-enforcement, thickness, accelerant, retardant, substrate.... a lot of factors to consider, but generally speaking if this is a typical 4 or 5 inch slab on grade with minimal rebar I would wait at least a week for a light vehicle, longer for anything heavy, we use specific mixes for specific applications and have break tests done at specific time intervals to verify strength. I'm on a job now where we have placed over fifty thousand yards in the last year and a half... almost done..
This is interesting to me since I want to put some more concrete down at my house under the carport. Who here has done their own concrete with the ol' wheelbarrow & shovel method? I doubt we'll be able to afford to have it done by anyone other than ourselves!
what are you guys pouring for? what is your position? i have been working on a job where we have to yank a out a certified 4000 psi 4' thick x 16' wide x 57 long hold down slab with a double mat of #6 on 18" centers...all of it located 15' from the trolley lines. It has taken a year of planning to get it this far (start the job on monday)
What is 5 sack and 6 sack mud? Never heard these terms........around here we just order 3000# or 3500# ...........like that............is the 5 sack or 6 sack a " construction worker " term ? Just curious....
here's what it looked like five or six weeks ago $120,000,000.00 job six floors of parking below street level multi purpose street grade businesses, grocery, bank etc.. five star hotel in one tower and condos and apartments in the other two about one million square feet total I run the survey crew we provide grid and grade for all trades and layout for steel, concrete and precast. fun huh? let's get back to Tech Week Paul
5-6 sack is a term for the amount of portland in it. Wait the 30 days at least before you seal it or you will pop the sealer or paint most likely. It traps the moisture in if you seal too quick.
Concrete reaches 70% at 7 days,full strength in 28 days, thus in 7 days 3500 PSI concrete will support about 2450 PSI. The problem is that if you use it before 28 days you run the risk of contaminating it before you can seal it.
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