Sealing New Concrete?

[DonIvey]

I just had my slab poured this morning, and am unsure when/if I need to seal it to protect as construction of the garage continues. Should I wait until they finish, or try to do something now. If now, should I do the ultimate epoxy sealant, or something temporary, and quicker, until later, then do the epoxy. If I use something temporarily, how difficult is it to later redo with epoxy? Any suggestions? BTW, this will be a workshop/garage, so fix needs to be fairly heavy duty. Thanks from a newbie,

Don Ivey
'87 Porsche
'83 Moto Guzzi

 

[cdottrot]

I'd also be interested in the answer to this - we'll be doing a new pour next year and I was curious how long I needed to wait before doing epoxy.

 

[swedevil]

I haven't done epoxy yet, but I have seen on there where it says for NEW concrete, it must sit for a minimum or 60 days or so before being applied.

 

[hilld]

It takes 28 days for concrete to cure properly, after that you can do what you want to seal it. There are some sealers that can be applied at the time of finishing, but those are usually just water proofers and not epoxies.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Keep it wet and covered or use Cure Seal, a sealant designed for curing concrete. Do not let it dry out, it will stop curing. Water is the catalyst for limestone crystals to form around the aggregate. That is how concrete is formed.

 

[racer1735]

I've had two slabs poured for garage or shop projects. On each, I've waited a minimum of 28 days for the concrete to cure. Then, when I was ready to apply the epoxy, I etched the concrete wtih muriatic (sp?) acid, rinsed thoroughly, allowed between 3 and 5 days for the floor to dry, then applied the epoxy. Both floors looked great and held up well (I have motorcycles with sidestands in the shop). I generally recoat the floor every 24 months. Easy job.