Old timer told me to wet the subgrade before a pour and I thought he was nuts

I skipped it on a 400 square foot patio last July and the slab cracked in 3 places within a week because the ground sucked all the moisture out before I could even finish troweling. Has anyone else had that happen or was it just my bad luck with the mix?

2 comments

2 Comments

alice_wilson7310d ago

Yeah I was totally the same way honestly. I thought wetting the subgrade was just an old wives' tale, like something my grandpa would say just to make me work harder for no reason. Then I did a walkway last summer, bone dry ground, 95 degrees out, and within two days I had these hairline cracks running through it like a roadmap. It sucked all the moisture right out of the bottom of the slab before it even had a chance to set up properly. Now I always soak the ground the night before and even mist it again right before the pour if it's really hot out. It's one of those things where you just have to learn the hard way I guess but man does it save you a headache.

sethb4510d ago

Hang on, wait. You're telling me you got those cracks showing up in just TWO days? Man, that is brutal. I've had some bad pours before but never that fast. I remember one job where I was trying to rush through a patio and the ground was basically dust. I thought I'd get lucky because it was gonna cloud up later but nope. Two days sounds like a nightmare, I would've been so mad cracking everything out and starting over.