Denver Decorative Concrete & Custom MasonryI had a brand new concrete driveway put in while air temps were around Sixty Five 75 degrees F.?
Four days after the cement was poured, air temps dropped to twenty five degrees F at night; thirty degrees F during the days for 3 days. Is the concrete going to be just as strong and cure correctly even though there was freezing air temps 4 days after the driveway was completed?
Not as strong as it would be had the temperature stayed around Sixty Five 75 degrees F. But concrete cracks regardless. That’s why you see the control cuts and expansion joints in sidwalks and hopefully your driveway. The only way to know for sure is to have it tested, but with four days, I do not think I would be that concerned.
it should be ok. but whatever you do, don’t put salt on it if it gets icy. it will eat the top layer off. i am telling you this because i put salt on a recently poured walk way and it ruined it.
Yes, your concrete will be just as strong. The exact cure time (full strength) is twenty eight days. This is called ideal strength. Once you have ideal strength, it will be fully cured.
The concrete should develop design strength even though it got cold. Usually concrete is protected from freezing for at least seven to ten days after it has been placed. Hopefully the contractor applied a cure and seal product on the finished product. (Should you want to have a concrete sealer applied to increase the drives durability wait at least twenty eight days until the concrete has cured sufficiently.) If curing compound was not used the concrete should have been covered and kept wet or at least kept wet for ten days after it was finished. The wet cure will provide ideal conditions for the concrete to gain the maximum strength. Concrete continues to cure for years, but the majority of its strength is gained in twenty eight days. (Concrete in commercial work is tested at twenty eight days to determine if it has reached its design strength. If it has not reached its design strength per the test another test is permitted at fifty six days to accommodate any errors in the testing procedures.)
Keep the concrete constantly wet until it is at least ten days old, the surface strength and overall strength will be increased in comparison to letting it dry out. Do NOT allow any salt to get on the drive for the first year, the surface will suffer. If you have salt on your streets it would help the durability if a concrete sealer is applied. Cure and seal products are better than nothing but applying a sealer after twenty eight days is considerably better.
most of the water in the mix should have been used up by then , but if they had knowledge colder temps were coming they should have covered it with insulated blankets or at least plastic and straw…it will cure ok and enough time should have passed that i dont think the top will spall…