Dig 'n pour a sidewalk tips?

[unhappykioti]

You don't want concrete to dry. As soon as it dries the reaction stops and it stops gaining strength. (From Highbeam)

Seems to me I read on a concrete website that concrete never stops curing, it continues to get harder and stronger through it's entire life. Just curious which is right.

[RexB]

Originally Posted by unhappykioti

You don't want concrete to dry. As soon as it dries the reaction stops and it stops gaining strength. (From Highbeam)

Seems to me I read on a concrete website that concrete never stops curing, it continues to get harder and stronger through it's entire life. Just curious which is right.

I remember a Discovery program on Hoover Dam said the concrete pour is so thick that it will "always" be curing and strengthening. A house foundation is considered "cured" enough to build on after 30 days. A sidewalk ready to walk on after about 30 hours, heavy loads after a week. Depends on the concrete mixture, pour thickness, curing additives, climate . . . Here's a DOT writeup on curing Chapter 3, Guide for Curing Portland Cement Concrete Pavements, Volume II, FHWA-HRT-05-038

[RexB]

Originally Posted by IXLR8

Lets see... you have dogs, tractors, work, folks in pain.... yup... there has to be a Country song in here somewhere.

LOL I got a couple of pickup trucks and been to jail. And the wife drinks more beer than I do. So there has GOT to be a song in there.

Welp, the backhoe work is done, now time for the hand hoe work. I didn't want to get out of the seat, where's the magic tractor that does everything?

[Highbeam]

Yes, concrete continues to strengthen so long as there is moisture available. It's a hydration reaction and needs the H20. We're not talking about needing to be underwater (though that helps) but the more the better.

Won't be an issue for the sidewalk, just trivia.

[RexB]

unhappy, did that answer your questions? There's lots of information on the web for the particular job you need to pour for. The important thing is to let the properly mixed concrete cure long enough for its intended purpose, dependent mostly on how deep the pour is and how much weight it has to carry.

,

The trench is done, the Kioti loved it, now go get the form lumber and gravel. It's raining, the weather forecast says five more days of the wet stuff.

[unhappykioti]

Yea it did. Hopefully here soon I'll be pouring a pad for a shop, waiting for the dealer to get a subframe mount for my CK20 to mount the new Woods X70 hoe I'm getting, then I'll really be diggin.

[RexB]

Good, and ya' know that you'll love having a backhoe and a new concrete pad in the shop. I always slid off the creeper trying to roll it on the gravel, lol.

[RexB]

Finished the walk, now to pull the forms out. Because I dug the trench too deep, it is 6 inches thick with 4 inches of gravel bed. Sheesh. Concrete is ridiculously high now, only two places to order it from here and they have matched each others' price rises. A nice cool day gave me plenty of time to float, edge, and put in control-cracks before it set up. Photo courtesy of Donna, who helped screed and brush it. What a trooper.

[Gittyup]

Nice Job, Rex. Looks great!

[RexB]

Thanks, I'm not a concrete guy and made a mistake by keeping the end of the form open to fair the sidewalk down
into the gravel drive. To roll a handtruck and things up and down it easier. Anyway...it was fugly and "not right" so I cut the end off straight and bevelled it to meet the driveway.

Levelling the forms -- After clearing and looking at this back yard for years I wouldn't have guessed there was a 4 inch grade drop sideways right there, in just 38 inches of sidewalk width. It took two yards of fill dirt on the north side just to smooth things out.

Time for a beer to make my back forget the abuse. Why doesn't this stuff get easier as time goes on?

This looks and works better