That comment about curing blankets at the supply yard stuck with me

I was picking up a pallet of bags at the yard last Tuesday and overheard this older finisher talking to the counter guy. He was saying how he never uses wet burlap anymore for curing because it leaves a mess and the edges always dry out faster than the middle. He said he switched to those insulating blankets with the plastic backing, even on small residential jobs. Said they hold the moisture way better and he gets less cracking even when it's 95 out. I started using them on my last driveway pour and he was right, the surface came out way more uniform. You guys have a go-to method for curing slabs when it's hot and windy?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylermurray5d ago

Three finishers in a row told me the same thing, guess I'll toss my burlap in the dumpster on the way out.

nancy3514d ago

Is tossing your burlap really that dramatic of a move though @tylermurray? I mean, I get it if you're doing big commercial pours all summer but for my little 12x12 walkways I still go back and forth. The plastic backed blankets are nice but they can trap too much heat if you lay them down wrong and then you get that weird yellowing on the surface. I've had pretty good luck just keeping a light mist going with a hose nozzle for the first few hours, then switching to a sheet of plastic with some sandbags holding it down. Maybe it's just me but the whole blanket thing feels like overkill for small stuff.