Concrete Floors - dry times

Getting some refurbishment work done at the back of my house which is seeing a new concrete floor being poured this week (140-150mm deep afaik).

2 questions :

Q1: Whats the typical drying time for this thats acceptable for tiling or wooden laminate flooring

Q2: In the drying period we will still need to use the room as a living space. whats the best plan to suppress concrete dust but not hinder drying out - is it possible to coat it with anything ?

thanks in advance dkh

-- dkh

Reply to
dkh
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Standard test to check for drying prior to applying a sealer; rubber car mat laid on floor overnight - look for moisture under it next morning. Should be dry or hardly any trace.

Dave

Reply to
Magician

Concrete ideally is kept damp for 1 month to let it cure to maximum strength according to the professional Yankee pourers

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it may not be practical about the home.

rusty

Reply to
Rusty

I've heard 1 month for every 1" of floor thickness - i.e. 4" thick floor takes 4 months (weather has an affect of course).

Reply to
nafuk

Laminate floor I layed on monday said 1 day per mm of concrete. So you are looking at 5 months...

Darren

Reply to
dmc

Tiling don't worry - as soon as its safe top walk on you can tile it. Concrete amnd screed set with water as teh active reagent - its a hydration process, and no grout you will ever use will completely stop the floor drying out post tiling.

For laminate you do not want condensation to form underneath, so give it

4-6 weeks depending on internal temperatures and humidity.

Yes. Use thinned PVA anyway to kill dusting.

We lived with dusting floors for a year till I got round to levelling and laminating - slung some expensive rugs over it. Wish I'd PVA'ed it though.

You can paint it as well, but its not really any better for short term. It does wear better if > i year before floor laying is contemplated.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I did exactly that recently, no trace of moisture after 12 days. (150ish mm floor)

Reply to
Mark Carver

The Natural Philosopher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@sabbath.news.uk.clara.net:

will thinned PVA not act as a seal an inhibit the drying of the concrete ? I like the idea but would be concerned if it lengthened the drying time...

Declan

Reply to
dkh

In article , dkh writes

Concrete does not 'dry', it sets, the way to make the most durable concrete is to cure it underwater. The water in the concrete is needed to ensure a complete cure and reduce the chance of cracking, early loss of water will result in drying shrinkage cracks, the volume of the water in the mix is needed to prevent this. Curing compounds are an essential part of laying large slabs, small jobs can be done with polythene, wet hessian etc., A PVA solution will work short term but for long term I would use a combined curing/sealing compound which will also harden and dustproof the surface, use a water based one or you will have to evacuate the house because of the fumes. Some types of tile adhesive will not like a barrier layer between them and the concrete so consider this before slapping anything down obviously no a problem if you are going laminate.

Reply to
Dave

Just noticed this post about concrete flooring and wood floors, as I'm about to move into a "new build" flat with concrete flooring, and would rather have a wood floor than carpet.

The flat is on the second floor, so my guess is that the floor is precast rather than poured concrete, but it will have been scimmed up with a top layer.

How long would this type of floor take to dry prior to taking a wood floor?

I will be hopefully using an "acoustic" mat with slots which allow the 20mm wood layer to be bonded with a special adhesive to the floor whilst abiding by the strict noise restrictions imposed by the lease.

Reply to
Adrian Boliston

Somewaht, but PVA itself is hygroscopic. Soak a lump of dried in water and it gioes whiote all over again..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I wold persnoally wait a couple of months to be safe.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Eh? Pity John Schmitt doesn't hang out here any more.

It's slightly sensitive to water, but hardly hygroscopic. Like all emulsions it speeds drying by forcing the water content on to the surface where it can evaporate more easily.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

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