TIL a wet cure is worth the extra effort after a bad patio job last August

I skipped the wet cure on a 400 square foot patio last summer because it was going to rain that night anyway, but by week two we had cracking along three control joints. Has anyone else had a job they realized mid-pour was going sideways and had to adjust on the fly?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron_chen6311d ago

Oh jeez, that's rough. I had a similar panic moment last year when I poured a small walkway and realized mid-pour I'd mixed the concrete way too wet (like soup, almost). I was so focused on getting it level that I didn't notice the slump was off until I had half the forms filled. I ended up dumping in some dry mix straight from the bag and troweling it in like a crazy person, which worked but looked terrible for a week until I got the finish right. The wet cure thing is a pain but man, it's like insurance you don't want to skip.

julia28611d ago

Dumping dry mix straight into wet concrete is a common trick but it doesn't actually work the way most people think. The dry powder needs to be properly mixed in to hydrate evenly, otherwise you end up with little pockets of unhydrated cement that never fully cure. That's probably why your finish looked rough for a while. Next time it might be better to just mix a fresh batch on the stiffer side and blend the two together in the forms before it sets up too much. Wet curing is definitely the right call though, especially if you're worried about a weak spot from the fix.