Tried a wet cure on my last driveway pour in Phoenix and it made a huge difference

I always just sprayed and covered with plastic before, but last month I kept burlap soaked on it for 5 days straight and the finish came out way smoother with zero cracks. The 110 degree heat was brutal but the burlap stayed damp way longer than I expected. Has anyone else had good luck with wet curing in hot climates or is it just overkill for residential jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancys9018d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Dave pours driveways in Tucson and he swears by the burlap method too. He did a big job last August where it hit 115 and he had a sprinkler running on the burlap 24/7 for a full week. Said the concrete looked like dark marble when they pulled the plastic off, not a single hairline crack anywhere. His customers were so happy they gave him a bonus.

sandra71518d ago

Are you guys measuring the slump before you go all in on this? Wet curing seems like a bandaid for mix issues to me. I've done maybe 30 pours in Phoenix over the last 5 years and I barely wet cure at all. Good mix design with the right water reducer and a proper cure compound does the same job without the hassle of babysitting burlap. Burlap gets moldy fast in our heat and you have to keep it wet 24/7 or it dries out and pulls moisture from the slab instead. That dark marble look your buddy got was probably more about the concrete mix and finishing technique than the wet burlap.