Warm Water Curing Concrete

Methods used include ponding or immersion spraying or fogging and wet coverings.

Warm water curing concrete. As the hydration reaction in concrete expels heat and keep concrete warm using cold water less than 50c on concrete may lead to cracking and failing. Curing compounds can be reasonably effective when evaporation is not too high. Keep an evaporative retarder ready on site in case the temperature gets hotter and water is rapidly evaporating. Without curing moisture is lost too quickly and there isn t enough water necessary for the crystals to grow resulting in weaker concrete.

These methods will also cool the concrete as the water evaporates. One of the most common methods for curing concrete is to hose it down frequently with water five to 10 times per day or as often as you can for the first seven. The best cured concrete is concrete that is cured slowly uniformly and evenly from top to bottom. Consider batching and mixing at a job site plant.

Most concrete has plenty of water when it is placed so the key is either to prevent the water from evaporating or add enough water to make up for the evaporation. Therefore on a hot dry windy day the concrete will dry quickly and that s when curing is most important. Water curing can be done after the slab pour by building dams with soil around the house and flooding the slab. In steam curing the temperature of steam should be restricted to a maximum of 75 0 c as in the absence of proper humidity about 90 the concrete may dry too soon.

Maintaining the presence of mixing water during the early hardening period. The ways to prevent evaporation are with curing blankets plastic sheeting or membrane forming sprayed on curing compounds. Alternate drying and wetting on the concrete surface causes volumetric changes in concrete and ultimately leads to cracking. The enclosed area is continually flooded with water.

During the summer months the outside temperature can become hot. Keep the concrete immersed in water during the curing period to fulfill the moisture requirements of. Reduce the mixing time once the water has been added to the mix. Prevent the loss of the mixing water from concrete by sealing its surface.

The concrete curing process involves a reaction between portland cement and water helping on releasing heat from the concrete at a desired and controlled rate. Use ice as part of the concrete water mix or use liquid nitrogen to cool the concrete. Water cooler than 50c is not suitable for curing concrete. Methods of curing concrete can be kept moist and often at a favorable temperature by any of three methods.

Spraying water on your new concrete is one of the best and oldest ways to cure your concrete. Concrete which is moist cured for 7 daysis about 50 stronger than uncured concrete. Do spray new concrete with water. After concrete is placed the concrete increases in strength very quickly for a period of 3 7 days.

After new concrete is poured and finished the concrete begins its curing process.