Am I the only one who thinks curing compound gets overhyped for small residential pours
Did a 12x14 patio pour in Tucson last week and decided to skip the curing compound since we were in a hurry to wrap up, just kept it wet with a hose for 3 days instead. Came back to check it and the surface is harder than a slab I sprayed with compound two years ago, no dusting, no hairline cracks. Is anyone else seeing that a wet cure beats a spray on smaller jobs, or did I just get lucky with the weather?
Wet curing is actually the better way to go, but it works because you're keeping water on it the whole time, not just because you skipped the spray. Compound just slows down how fast the water leaves the concrete, so if you can babysit it with a hose for a few days you're getting the same thing or better. Three days of wet cure in Tucson heat is a little short though, most specs want 7 days, so you may have gotten a bit lucky with the weather holding up.