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Concrete curing plays an essential role in developing the strength and stability of concrete. Curing occurs immediately after the concrete is directly related to maintaining the desired temperature and humidity conditions. Adequately cured concrete will have sufficient moisture to develop strength, volume stability, resistance to surface cracking as well as resistance to wear and scaling. Today’s article by Contractors San Antonio guides you through the proper curing time of concrete.
What is concrete?
We can understand that concrete is a mixture of materials such as stone, inorganic binders such as cement, gypsum, lime … and water. You can add other aggregates such as gravel, rock, and sand… mixed in specific proportions to create a solid, solid, and solid concrete block.
Concrete has an excellent bearing capacity, hard to break, and is durable, satisfying for the construction of many different works. In particular, concrete also creates many shapes, creating diversity and richness in terms of building architecture and bringing eternal use over time.
Concrete and reinforced concrete is widely used in construction because they have the following advantages: High strength, can make concrete with different strengths, shapes, and properties. Low price, entirely sustainable, and stable against rain, sun, temperature, and humidity.
Methods of grading concrete
Concrete is an all too familiar definition in construction. Even those not specialized in that field understand that construction requires concrete. But is it true that every building uses a single type of concrete? Need to mix stone, sand, and cement to have concrete?
There are many types of concrete. We can divide into many different types of concrete based on:
- Specifications
- Materials used for bonding
- Utilities
How long does concrete curing take?
The entire concrete curing takes about a month, but your concrete will be ready for use sooner. Each project will be slightly different due to differences in weather, concrete mix and pouring, and surface finishing techniques.
When waiting for the concrete to dry, you need to note the following time frames:
- 24 to 48 hours after concreting is completed, it can remove barriers, and people can walk on the concrete surface.
- After seven days of curing, ensure that vehicles can move on the surface and that the concrete is okay.
- Twenty-eight days after finishing at this point, the concrete must be fully cured.
Tasks in the curing phase of concrete
What are the things to do and things to keep in mind during concrete curing? The next part of the article will address the concrete curing process.
Purpose of concrete curing
- Ensure the proper humidity so that the concrete continues to achieve great strength to put into use.
- Proper curing of concrete improves strength, durability, water tightness, and wear resistance.
Most people think of curing. They only think of maintaining moisture on the concrete surface. But in reality, this process gives the concrete what it needs to achieve proper strength. Concrete strength depends on the growth of crystals in the concrete. These crystals grow from the reaction between cement and water – a reaction known as hydration.
Proper curing time for concrete
Concrete curing is divided into two stages: initial curing and subsequent curing. These two stages take place continuously and without interruption from surface finishing until the concrete reaches its curing strength.
Initial maintenance phase
During this period, it is necessary to ensure that the concrete does not evaporate water under the influence of weather factors such as sun, wind, temperature, air humidity, and other factors that cause a substantial impact on the concrete.
After forming concrete, it is necessary to cover the surface with moistened materials. When necessary, it is possible to water the factual damp-covering material lightly or uses misting machines and equipment to form a stream of water mist directly onto the concrete surface without using other objects. We should not impact the surface and not water now to avoid damage to the concrete surface.
In other cases, you may not be able to use a wet coating on the concrete surface. To avoid surface cracking, you must monitor to ensure that the concrete does not lose water.
The next maintenance phase
This stage follows immediately after the initial stage when it is necessary to continuously water all surfaces of the concrete until the curing process is over. The subsequent curing time depends on the climate of each project area.
You must always ensure that the concrete surface is always sufficiently moist. To provide moisture and avoid substantial damage, maintain watering throughout the day or night. The number of watering times in a day depends on the local climate where the project is located.
There is no regulation on the water source quality to keep concrete moist. You can easily use river and lake water, but ensure that the water does not contain impurities harmful to concrete.
Contractors San Antonio has completed the article sharing knowledge about concrete curing time. You can refer and get in touch with us immediately if you need advice.