Still a little confused

[gweezer]

I have a new slab in place, 11 days old now. I've gotten some local advice, and have been reading thru the forum and I'm still not sure what to do. It has been suggested to me that I put on a cure-and seal product (Quikrete is the only product to purchase locally) as soon as possible. I don't find much refernece to that here on the forum...so not sure about that..

What aslo has me confused is the timing of application. Seems like you should put on anything that is supposed to help the cure right away...right? But then I read in alot of threads about wating 28 days before you put anything on the concrete. Is that just for sealers?

That's all I'm looking to do here, one of the types of sealers...no epoxy or tiling of any kind.

I'm in a cold climate and the garage will remain essentially unheated (might be some portable heat source used as needed), so does that have any bearing on what selaer type I use?

 

[schmelpboy]

I have a new slab in place, 11 days old now. I've gotten some local advice, and have been reading thru the forum and I'm still not sure what to do. It has been suggested to me that I put on a cure-and seal product (Quikrete is the only product to purchase locally) as soon as possible. I don't find much refernece to that here on the forum...so not sure about that..

What aslo has me confused is the timing of application. Seems like you should put on anything that is supposed to help the cure right away...right? But then I read in alot of threads about wating 28 days before you put anything on the concrete. Is that just for sealers?

That's all I'm looking to do here, one of the types of sealers...no epoxy or tiling of any kind.

I'm in a cold climate and the garage will remain essentially unheated (might be some portable heat source used as needed), so does that have any bearing on what selaer type I use?

I just poured 14 yards in my garage.....I've poured a ton of cement, and honestly, never used anything on mine after pouring. This is just my opinion, of course. The 14 yards I just poured I just came back and polished the whole thing. There's really no need for any sealer or anything. Where I work we did it exactly the same way....we just poured, polished, and let sit. It's been that way for 32 years now, perfectly polished, and no problems with hundreds of cars a year rolling over it....

 

[jd_1138]

Here's a thread about it.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13555

 

[ConCretin]

There are two issues here; Curing vs sealing

You want to cure your slab by maintaining it in a continuously moist condition for 7 to 28 days. You can do this with a spray on curing compound, which may also contain a sealer. You can also cure by wetting and/or covering the slab with a non absorbitive material such as poly.

Sealers are meant to protect the concrete from stains, etc over a longer period. Many of these products want you to wait 28 days before you apply them.

I'd moist cure the slab for at least 7 days and apply the sealer after 28.

 

[gweezer]

Thanks for the replies all.

Since I'm past the 7 day mark(11 and counting as of today), should I still go ahead with the application of the curing agent?

I will leave that on until the 28 day mark and then apply an additional sealer product.

 

[gweezer]

After doing some more reading, I will sort of anwer my own question...I think. It appears that after 14 days I can't put anything on the slab that will really "help" the cure, so I will wait the 28 days and then apply a sealer. Is this correct?

 

[Zeke]

How has the weather been? Curing compounds are mainly used in dry weather with low humidity. Not always, but there's more reason to have it then than if it has been cool, damp and or raining.

I wouldn't put sealer down until the building is dried in and the concrete is not holding any significant moisture. Put some plastic down for a day and check the moisture. You will always have a little for quite a while. When it gets down below the manuf'trs specs (estimate) then seal it. Meanwhile, be careful what you spill.

 

[gweezer]

Thanks Zeke....

Since the slab was poured its been mid 60's - low 70's during the day, high 40's - low 50's at night with lots of dew in the mornings.... and 2 days of rain. I think this fits your description of when the curing compound is not really needed.

I'll conduct the moisture check tomorrow and see what that tells me...and make sure the contractors have their lunch out in the yard...