How long for concrete to cure?
- Thread starter Wee Willy
- Start date
ridger
Member
- Location
- Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Iv
seen lorries on concrete after 3 days :-(
RWG Contracts
Member
- Location
- Samlesbury, Lancashire
seen lorries on concrete after 3 days :-([/QUOTE]
Most farmers round here go for three days
You want to leave it for as long as you can manage with the inconvenience, but try to leave it at least three weeks
Most farmers round here go for three days
You want to leave it for as long as you can manage with the inconvenience, but try to leave it at least three weeks
Bloke I know that does a lot of concreting including some big haulage yards reckons you can be on it in 24hrs if you do it right!!
I would personally leave it a good few days. Can you not do it in stages so the tanker can still run on one bit while you do the other bit or get a very long pipe!!!!
I would personally leave it a good few days. Can you not do it in stages so the tanker can still run on one bit while you do the other bit or get a very long pipe!!!!
thats exactly what I'm doing.
- Location
- Hampshire
In the late seventies we had a new dairy built, and they were concreting the yard to the front. I had just returned from Seale Hayne, where we were taught that concrete took 20 years to cure, and shouldn't be walked on for a week, and not driven on for a month.
Of course nobody took any notice of a spotty boy, and sure enough they drove a lorry onto it a couple of days later. The exact spot has broken up, and now there is a big wobbly slab, been like it for years.
If you need milk tanker access I would seriously consider hiring some wooden or aluminium trackway to put down on it, which would at least spread the weight.
Of course nobody took any notice of a spotty boy, and sure enough they drove a lorry onto it a couple of days later. The exact spot has broken up, and now there is a big wobbly slab, been like it for years.
If you need milk tanker access I would seriously consider hiring some wooden or aluminium trackway to put down on it, which would at least spread the weight.
ridger
Member
- Location
- Tyrone, Northern Ireland
What about backfilling and setting slats onto a shuttered tank? Is 3 weeks enough?
- Location
- East Sussex
Get them to drop some pipe lengths with you so he can load off the new concrete.
Farfrae
Member
- Location
- Pontargothi, Carmarthenshire
Concrete needs around 3 to 7 days (depending on the mix) to achieve sufficient strength and around 28 days to achieve (from memory) something like 97% of it's strength. It goes on curing for a year or more.
CP 11013 recommends different curing periods depending on the type of cement used. Four days minimum is recommended for ordinary Portland Cement concrete, and two days when rapid-hardening Portland Cement is used. In adverse conditions, i.e. hot or windy weather, full curing should continue for a minimum of seven days with all Portland Cements.
The first 24 hours is the most important and covering it stop water evaporation helps a lot
Info here (pdf)
http://www.hanson.co.uk/system/files_force/assets/document/hanson-uk-curing-concrete.pdf
CP 11013 recommends different curing periods depending on the type of cement used. Four days minimum is recommended for ordinary Portland Cement concrete, and two days when rapid-hardening Portland Cement is used. In adverse conditions, i.e. hot or windy weather, full curing should continue for a minimum of seven days with all Portland Cements.
The first 24 hours is the most important and covering it stop water evaporation helps a lot
Info here (pdf)
http://www.hanson.co.uk/system/files_force/assets/document/hanson-uk-curing-concrete.pdf
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Its 28 days to get the strength you ordered, obviously walking on it is a lot less than you ordered, but damage is done at the BOTTOM where you dont see it, but drilling a core out when you complain 2 years later will show it was pulverised before curing
RWG Contracts
Member
- Location
- Samlesbury, Lancashire
I think he's wrong, unless he's planning work for 20 years time when it all cracks up, running on it to soon puts little cracks in the structure, you cant see it from the surface but they're there, water can get in and that starts a freeze thaw cycle which cracks concrete up
RWG Contracts
Member
- Location
- Samlesbury, Lancashire
Correct, if you order a RC45 mix it will reach 75% of the 45kn strength in the first 7 days then the last 25% takes 3 weeks, I'm sure that's what they told me at college of knowledge
Last edited:
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
correct
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
4 weeks would be better
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
what about adding accelerant to make it set quicker ?
Thanks for all the replies. Whoever said lorries in three days would be total madness. Will def leave it three weeks.
@RWG Contracts mentioned RC45 mix,is that what I call 45 Newton mix? Suppliers are only quoting me for 40 Newton ,they don't norm do anything stronger over here,. Reckon it will be strong enough with added reinforcing.
Was surprised at prices. Shuttered a tank three years ago and paid £60 cubic meter. Everybody told me concrete was well up. Got quotes today ranging from£55 to £60 for 40 Newton. Not bad I thought .
@RWG Contracts mentioned RC45 mix,is that what I call 45 Newton mix? Suppliers are only quoting me for 40 Newton ,they don't norm do anything stronger over here,. Reckon it will be strong enough with added reinforcing.
Was surprised at prices. Shuttered a tank three years ago and paid £60 cubic meter. Everybody told me concrete was well up. Got quotes today ranging from£55 to £60 for 40 Newton. Not bad I thought .
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
Bet it's 90 a meter over here
ridger
Member
- Location
- Tyrone, Northern Ireland
There must be good money in shuttering, 30 meters of concrete would do a fair bit of wall
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
4,5 meters per 15ft bay ten foot high..nearly as much in footings