DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Concrete drying time?

3K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  CoconutPete 
#1 · (Edited)
Concrete CURING time? w/ new question

Yesterday I poured a landing pad for my deck stairs. 5' x 2' x 6".

I finished around 5 or 6PM.

I just realized I have Friday off work which presents a perfect opportunity to actually finish the stairs. What do you all think - is that enough time for them to dry?

I don't have to walk on the stairs while building them so the load would be minimal if it had to be.

[Thanks guys for reminding me it does not "dry" - it "cures" - I changed the title, not sure why it doesn't show up]
 
#2 ·
Yesterday I poured a landing pad for my deck stairs. 5' x 2' x 6".

I finished around 5 or 6PM.

I just realized I have Friday off work which presents a perfect opportunity to actually finish the stairs. What do you all think - is that enough time for them to dry?

I don't have to walk on the stairs while building them so the load would be minimal if it had to be.
You can build on it Wednesday.
Ron
 
#7 ·
Concrete does not dry. - It cures and gets stronger. Even if it seems hard and is only a few days old, you can still scar or scrape the surface even if it is strong enough for the use.

It will continue to gain strength for a year or two if there is moisture available and a slab on grade usually has enough moisture under it to allow some more curing. The 28 days is just a time period for meeting or measuring the strength.

Dick
 
#9 ·
Pulled the form yesterday. Seems nice and solid. By the time tomorrow rolls around I feel fine building the stairs on it.

Side question: Have you guys ever used a grinding wheel or anything like it on a pad? The edges are not "razor sharp" but they are certainly not rounded either - it would be nice to round them off a little bit in case someone comes running up the stairs in bare feet.
 
#10 ·
It won't look as good as if you had used your edging tool, but a hunk of a broken concrete block will take off the edge. Just rub it along the edge.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top