What is meant by curing concrete and how do I do it?
A. Curing concrete is essentially keeping the moisture from evaporating out of the concrete prematurely. This is begun immediately following the completion of the finishing process, the same day the concrete is poured. This can be done by several different methods, although not every method is ok to use for every job. 1) Moist curing is where most people get the idea that they should spray their freshly poured slab with water. The correct way to moist cure is by flooding the slab and maintaining the water on it for approximately 1 week or by the use of sprinklers, which must run continuously for about the same amount of time, not allowing the surface of the concrete to dry at any location for the duration of the cure process. If the top of the concrete is sprayed and let to dry and repeatedly, more harm than good may be done as this contributes to possible cracking from the expansion & contraction of the slab, among other reasons. 2) Another method is by covering the concrete with a “b
