Don't Take A Break When You Cure Concrete, The Concrete Institute Advises

Interrupted curing of concrete will inevitably have a negative effect on the final quality of the concrete, cautions Bryan Perrie, MD of The Concrete Institute. Perrie says the need for continuous curing of concrete is most critical during the first few days after the concrete has been cast. "When curing is interrupted in this period, and the cement paste is allowed to dry out, hydration of the cement ceases. More importantly, it becomes more difficult to get water back into the pore structure during subsequent wetting to re-activate the hydration process," he says. The difficulties for water to effectively reach the pore structure is caused by the following developments which take place when the concrete dries out: