New Concrete floor Advice Needed?

[Bobbyd38]

Hi Gents,
Just about to pour the Floor in my 24x48 Garage/Shop. Going to put down 6 Mil Vapor barrier over compacted Gravel Base, and 1/2" foam expansion joint around perimeter. Pouring a 3500# Mix 4" thick.

I plan to put an epoxy coating when finished, how long do I have to wait for it to cure?

Also, I read, if you keep the fresh concrete covered in plastic, it will cure slower and be less prone to cracks… anybody have any direct experience with this? Thought this would be a good idea while I'm insulating and sheet rocking to keep the contamination to a minimum before epoxy coating.

Any Feedback from actual users (Not Dealers just yet) of various Epoxy Coating systems and their Pro's and Con's would be super helpful as well?

 

[dw1]

Hi Gents,
Just about to pour the Floor in my 24x48 Garage/Shop. Going to put down 6 Mil Vapor barrier over compacted Gravel Base, and 1/2" foam expansion joint around perimeter. Pouring a 3500# Mix 4" thick.

I plan to put an epoxy coating when finished, how long do I have to wait for it to cure?

Also, I read, if you keep the fresh concrete covered in plastic, it will cure slower and be less prone to cracks… anybody have any direct experience with this? Thought this would be a good idea while I'm insulating and sheet rocking to keep the contamination to a minimum before epoxy coating.

Any Feedback from actual users (Not Dealers just yet) of various Epoxy Coating systems and their Pro's and Con's would be super helpful as well?

Don't know if this will help you any, I posted it last week.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=288328
I have the exact same set up, 6 mil VB, 3500# Fiber Mix-4" thick. Mine was poured 4 days ago, concrete guy said to wait 7 days before parking vehicle in there, about 28-30 days to cure completely. I have not sealed it yet!!
They came back the next day and cut expansion joints in it.

 

[mnavillus]

Hi Gents,
Just about to pour the Floor in my 24x48 Garage/Shop. Going to put down 6 Mil Vapor barrier over compacted Gravel Base, and 1/2" foam expansion joint around perimeter. Pouring a 3500# Mix 4" thick.

I plan to put an epoxy coating when finished, how long do I have to wait for it to cure?

Also, I read, if you keep the fresh concrete covered in plastic, it will cure slower and be less prone to cracks… anybody have any direct experience with this? Thought this would be a good idea while I'm insulating and sheet rocking to keep the contamination to a minimum before epoxy coating.

Any Feedback from actual users (Not Dealers just yet) of various Epoxy Coating systems and their Pro's and Con's would be super helpful as well?

I don't know what area of the country your in?

However locally here in South Texas we generally will wait at minimum 30 days before considering coating new concrete.

however if its been raining a lot or not terribly hot and sunny, I've seen that push out towards 90 days...


As to your floor coatings......I don't have any personally experience with the products sold by vendors in the forums, however for the most part the feedback is positive.

Keep in mind these guys (forum vendors) are putting there necks on the line every time they sell products to DIY installers. It's in there best interest to help that customer through the installation process to ensure the coatings they sold go down correctly and that customer has a positive experience.

If not, the whole forum will hear about it.

That said". We (as an owner/operator) use products that you as a consumer don't have access to because you need to be certified by the coatings manufacturer to apply these coating systems and have access to there products.

However there's good coating on the forum (use the search button and dig in) and there are good coating at your local paint store, particularly at the industrial stores (PPG,sherwin williams, others) because they are going to have concrete coatings designed for chemicals, forklift traffic, vehicle traffic and etc.

The residential stores may or may not have decent products depending on who you talk to and what they sell....however stay away from big box store "pre package garage floor KITS"

hope this helps!

 

[Bobbyd38]

I'm in the Northeast - Massachusetts. and we're finally getting day temps in the 50's and 60's.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[benwah]

Concrete needs to cure minimum 28 days at 75 degrees. If you are not withing that range, adjust time accordingly. Colder climates will obviously need more time. Moisture cured concrete will need more time as well.

It's not about the strength of the concrete, more about the moisture it retains.

 

[Bobbyd38]

So should I cover it in Plastic right after the Pour and/or before they come back to cut the expansion joints? How long do I need to keep it tarped?

 

[Creative Fab]

Forget the cutting, use Zip Strips when pouring the floor. Both of my shops have these and I have only a fine line where the natural cracks follow the Zip Strip thus eliminating the cutting and wide, unsightly, lines that collect ****. 30 days is a good guideline before coating, given the right temps...above 70.

 

[ConCretin]

Hopefully your floor guy is using an early entry saw and will cut your joints right after he gets done finishing. I'd just cover the floor first thing the next morning. This time of year, you've got a fair amount of leeway.

All the curing membrane does is keep the mix water from evaporating before the concrete reaches design strength. You aren't going to get much evaporation over a cool damp evening.

Is is common to cure for seven days, which will get you about 70% of design strength. There is enough residual water in the concrete to get you the rest of the way. With that said, the longer the better.

A simple method of curing is polyethylene sheeting with taped seams and edges. A loosely laid tarp won't work very well. If you really want a world class cure, immerse the slab in water or look into hydrocure sheeting