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Hello,
I am making a small (1-1/4" x 16" x 40") concrete countertop. I have made several countertops in the past and I have always use Melamine for the forms and they turned out well. This time I used an old piece of plywood. I put a really light coat of paint on the form, so as to ease in the release.
I used (1) 60 pound bag of high strength concrete mix and measured the water (3 quarts) per instructions on the bag. I mixed by hand in a plastic tub and the mix looked good.
I placed the concrete yesterday (3/6/2020) at about noon time. I screeded and troweled the concrete and I shook the form and tapped the edges with a hammer. I let the concrete sit until all of the water disappeared from the top and troweled again. And then again.
Everything looked good, but this morning the concrete is shiny and not very hard - I can easily scratch the surface with a finger nail.
Questions:
Do I need to wait another day for the 'crete to harden?
Should I remove the form edges to facilitate drying?
Will it ever harden?
Thanks For Your Help,
Russell
I am making a small (1-1/4" x 16" x 40") concrete countertop. I have made several countertops in the past and I have always use Melamine for the forms and they turned out well. This time I used an old piece of plywood. I put a really light coat of paint on the form, so as to ease in the release.
I used (1) 60 pound bag of high strength concrete mix and measured the water (3 quarts) per instructions on the bag. I mixed by hand in a plastic tub and the mix looked good.
I placed the concrete yesterday (3/6/2020) at about noon time. I screeded and troweled the concrete and I shook the form and tapped the edges with a hammer. I let the concrete sit until all of the water disappeared from the top and troweled again. And then again.
Everything looked good, but this morning the concrete is shiny and not very hard - I can easily scratch the surface with a finger nail.
Questions:
Do I need to wait another day for the 'crete to harden?
Should I remove the form edges to facilitate drying?
Will it ever harden?
Thanks For Your Help,
Russell