What Is Concrete Curing?

Concrete use a chemical actuation process to transform from a liquid to
a solid and this process takes approximately 30 days to complete and reach the finished strength. Over this time the concrete is said to be curing. You might also refer to the concrete as being green during this time, which implies that the concrete has not reached its finished strength yet. Most of the curing happens over the initial first three days whereby after this the rate of curing slows down until the concrete has reaching the final strength at
the 30 day point.
When concrete is curing it is important to provide the concrete with water which will help to strengthen the concrete and avoid premature drying out and shrinking. Since concrete shrinks as it cures it is important to allow sufficient time for the concrete to gain strength from curing before allowing it to dry out completely and expose the concrete to structural forces that could cause it to crack. This process is called wet curing or moist curing.

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[johnterpack]

My first job out of high school 30-odd years ago was building pools. I've done my fair share of spraying down fresh concrete to keep it moist in the early stages.

[marnime]

Omw I've been searching for a week to find a channel with your concrete knowledge. Finally! Thank you so much for taking the time to make these detailed videos. 😅🙏 Love from South Africa

[kevinfishburne]

What would happen if the water in the concrete is allowed to evaporate before the concrete has cured, then it is rehydrated later to continue the curing process? Would there be a noticeable difference in structural integrity between concrete cured in one pass (for example by submerging it in a bucket of water for several days), or the same concrete cured by spraying it with water from a spray bottle let's say, ten times? So let's say we put a one pound ball of concrete in a bucket of water, and left another on a table. The one on the table would be left to dry under a fan and rehydrated later multiple times. Would "cure lines", like tree rings, of varying strength (of varying density in tree rings) be formed, reducing the strength of the ball? Can curing "resume" safely? Thanks!