Curing Concrete With Plastic Sheeting

Should you cover concrete with plastic to help curing.

Curing concrete with plastic sheeting.

Wet the concrete thoroughly and then cover it. A plastic polyethylene covering retains moisture in the concrete and improves temperature control. Covering the curing concrete with plastic keeps it cleaner but there is a more important purpose behind this practice. The drying or curing should be gradual otherwise cracking may occur.

You may have seen fresh concrete covered with plastic while it is curing. Water is mixed into concrete to activate the cement binding agent and as the mix dries it hardens. For this reason concrete could be effectively covered with a plastic sheet so that it seals the evaporation of water from concrete. The curing concrete with plastic sheeting after a short spell of water curing for one or two days is sometimes beneficial.

It is a common misconception that concrete cures by drying out like a pie crust that hardens as it. When plastic sheeting is used over flat surfaces such as pavements or slabs it should extend beyond the edges of the slab by a length of at least twice the thickness of the slab. Either polyethylene sheeting that s at least 4mm thick or a concrete curing insulating blanket both available from diy stores are good for this task. Curing compounds are chemical products usually sprayed directly over the concrete.

Curing concrete with plastic sheeting requires covering all exposed areas of the concrete as soon as.