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Vent: That foreman who swore by a wet cure on a 90 degree day
Old Bob told me to keep the burlap soaked every 2 hours on that slab in Phoenix, I figured I knew better and let it dry out. Sure enough, had to grind down 3 big cracks after it set, $400 out of my pocket to fix it. Anyone else learn that lesson the hard way?
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wyatt_chen861mo ago
The wet cure stuff is way overblown most of the time though... I've been doing this 12 years and I only ever mist the surface once or twice on hot days, never had a problem. Your real issue was probably the mix being too dry or the crew screwing up the finishing, not the burlap schedule. Old Bob was probably just covering his own tail after a bad pour somewhere else. Concrete cures with its own water anyway if you don't let it flash dry completely. That $400 fix was more about bad timing and maybe a weak batch than anything else.
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butler.shane1mo ago
Ha, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned what happens below grade though. The top surface is one thing, but the ground temperature at the bottom of the slab can suck moisture out way faster than the top, especially if it's a hot day and the subgrade wasn't dampened beforehand. That kind of hidden drying can cause curling and cracks that have nothing to do with burlap or finishing, and it's the kind of thing old school guys like Bob might have seen bite people more often than any surface schedule.
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allen.amy1mo ago
Man I don't know, I think people get way too wound up about this. I've seen guys do the bare minimum and get perfect slabs, and other guys follow every rule and still end up with cracks. @wyatt_chen86 is probably right that a lot of it comes down to the crew and the mix, not whether you soaked the burlap every four hours. That $400 fix sounds more like a lesson in who you hire than a lesson in curing methods.
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