How long for concrete/screed to dry ?

[uuf361]

Am having a conservatory added to the house at the moment......spoke to company yesterday after foundations completed, and should be put up in 2 weeks from now....all good so far.........

Then comes the interesting bit....they ask me what type of flooring I'm having, so I say vinyl......then they say I have to allow one week per 0.5 inch of concrete/screed to allow it to dry after they've done........now they've put down 4 inches of concrete and will be putting down another 3 inches of screed......so this means I can't put flooring down until 14 weeks after completion.....which will be Xmas.......sounds bonkers to me.

Anyone know if this is right or if they're simply covering their arse ?

[mybrainhurts]

Put your foot in it...

When you can't pull it out, it's dry...

HTH...

[uuf361]

[mybrainhurts]

What...?

[Gsw500]

It usually works out to 1mm per day.

Loads of moisture to be released before you cover it and end up sealing in said moisture..


HTH.

[captainzep]

Lick it.

When its wet it'll taste of cake mixture.

When its dry it'll taste of actual cake.

But in a concretey way.

-In fact forget all that. It takes years of tasting and practice.

[dxg]

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

[Autonotiv]

GSW500 is correct.

But i would just leave it a few weeks, it should be fine.

We have laid the screed one day and tiled it the next.

that was over a year ago, no probs.

[sleep envy]

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

[uuf361]

I'm only going on what the conservatory people told me - when it comes to stuff like this I am completely clueless and happy to admit it

[dxg]

sleep envy said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

It cures.

[captainzep]

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

Bloody posters trying to be a bit 'surreal' and funny.

Get back on topic and try to be helpful to the OP. Kay?

[sleep envy]

dxg said:

sleep envy said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

It cures.

by means of a chemical reaction

[dxg]

captainzep said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

Bloody posters trying to be a bit 'surreal' and funny.

Get back on topic and try to be helpful to the OP. Kay?

I was. It cures (see above). The heat of hydration results in drying, but that's a by-product of the chemcial reaction.

[mybrainhurts]

dxg said:

sleep envy said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

It cures.

The pox..?

[sleep envy]

mybrainhurts said:

dxg said:

sleep envy said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

It cures.

The pox..?

no, PH of you

[dxg]

mybrainhurts said:

dxg said:

sleep envy said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

It cures.

The pox..?

Society's ills.

[captainzep]

mybrainhurts said:

dxg said:

sleep envy said:

dxg said:

Should I be pedantic and point out that concrete doesn't dry?

feel free

It cures.

The pox..?

Bacon?

[Mmmm bacon -trots off to fridge]

[dxg]

If you want a semi-serious answer, they spec will say something ridiculous like not to lay vinyl or carpeting over it until two months of *curing* to ensure no moisture is trapped. I was taught "give it a couple of weeks"

[cornishgirl]

I don't know about the statistics but when we had a new concrete floor in our kitchen it we put a new vinyl floor down about 6 weeks after they had finished and within a week it had bubbled and rucked.

The floor man said it was OK but a surveyor friend of my husband came to look at it and used a moisture detecting gadget. He told us we should have waited another 3 months!

The firm eventually came back after about 3 months of arguing and relaid the vinyl and also put some black goo down as well and we never had any problems afterwards.