Am I the only one who overwatered concrete for years?

I always sprayed my slabs heavy with water during curing, thinking it helped. A guy from a job in Phoenix saw me last week and said I was washing out the surface cement, making it weak. Now I use a damp burlap cover instead, and my finish is way harder.

3 comments

3 Comments

henderson.oscar1mo ago

Some misting is fine but you still need real moisture on the slab.

mark_mitchell1mo ago

Wow, really? I did the same thing for like ten years before a guy at the supply house finally set me straight. My old driveway had all these white patches and a dusty top layer, and I just figured that was normal for concrete. He told me to just mist it with a hose and leave plastic sheeting on top, and the difference was night and day. Still feels wrong somehow, like I'm neglecting it.

williamm821mo ago

That bit about it "feeling wrong" hits home. I felt the exact same way when I switched from just misting to doing the plastic sheeting trick. I had always thought you needed to soak concrete good and hard for it to cure right, but the plastic keeps the moisture trapped against the surface way better than a hose ever could. I tried it on a patio slab a couple years back and the finish came out rock hard with no dusty top layer at all. It still feels like cheating somehow, but I can't argue with results that clean.