[CoconutPete]

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]

 

[Ron6519]

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

 

[CoconutPete]

Well that's certainly good news - thanks :thumbup:

 

[Willie T]

Geez! How much do you weigh?

 

[CoconutPete]

Why, does the pad seem big? Haha.

The stairs are going to be 4' wide.

 

[Willie T]

Well, both the depth of the pad and the long drying time for pedestrian traffic.

 

[concretemasonry]

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

 

[CoconutPete]

Great. I will build on Friday then. I'll make sure to keep heavy items off it for as long as possible.

 

[CoconutPete]

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.

 

[Willie T]

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.

 

[CoconutPete]

Hmm.... very resourceful. I like that!