Talked to an old slab guy last week and now I'm rethinking how I cure

Ran into this retired finisher at the supply yard in Tulsa, been doing it since the 70s. He said he never used a curing compound, just wet burlap and plastic for a full 7 days no matter what. Said the modern stuff makes us lazy and we get more surface cracks. I always thought the spray-on was good enough but he showed me some photos of his 30 year old driveway jobs still look brand new. Got me wondering if I should switch up my method. Anyone else ditch the spray and go back to old school?

2 comments

2 Comments

joel_young13d ago

Man oh man, this hits home. I've been going back and forth on this same issue for the last year after talking to a few old timers myself. Honestly, it makes you wonder if we've been oversold on the spray-on stuff just to make the job faster and cheaper. The wet burlap and plastic method sounds like a pain but those results he showed you speak for themselves. Ngl, I think a lot of surface cracks we see nowadays come from cutting corners with curing. I personally switched to doing a 5 day wet cure on my flatwork and I've noticed way less crazing already. Might be worth trying on your next job just to see if it holds up.

kai_brown2313d agoMost Upvoted

Read a study a while back that tested different curing methods. The wet burlap and plastic consistently came out on top for strength and crack resistance. The spray on stuff was better than nothing but not even close to the old school way. Makes you wonder how much the industry pushed the easy route for the sake of speed and profit. I've noticed guys my age never even heard of wet curing. They just spray the membrane and walk away. Then they blame the mix when hairline cracks show up a month later.