Any Concrete guys here?

Sealing concrete has some variables. Assuming the contractor didn't use an integral sealer... are you using a "cure and seal" or just a sealer? What location? Spray on or brush?
 
The contractor sprayed Euclid Diamond Clear on it after it was poured and finished. This was back in May. They put my relief cuts in the next day.

I want to get another coat of Diamond Clear on it before the winter to protect it from freeze / thaw cycles as much as possible here in PA. I planned on spraying it and having my son follow me with a 3/8in nap roller to smooth it out.

I believe Diamond Clear is a “cure/sealer”. My relief cuts are very thin. Only a saw blade wide. I’m having a hard time finding backer foam that I can wedge into the cuts before applying the self leveling sealant in the cuts.
 
Sealing concrete has some variables. Assuming the contractor didn't use an integral sealer... are you using a "cure and seal" or just a sealer? What location? Spray on or brush?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t come in here and just start giving recommendations. You gotta start with your resume.

How many bow kills you got?

What’s your bench?

Just for fun. How do YOU polish Velcro sneakers?
 
The contractor sprayed Euclid Diamond Clear on it after it was poured and finished. This was back in May. They put my relief cuts in the next day.

I want to get another coat of Diamond Clear on it before the winter to protect it from freeze / thaw cycles as much as possible here in PA. I planned on spraying it and having my son follow me with a 3/8in nap roller to smooth it out.

I believe Diamond Clear is a “cure/sealer”. My relief cuts are very thin. Only a saw blade wide. I’m having a hard time finding backer foam that I can wedge into the cuts before applying the self leveling sealant in the cuts.
How deep are the cuts. You can fill them with dry sand and remove the sand to a depth of ~3/8" then apply your self-leveling sealer in the cuts. IF the cuts are not too deep apply the sealer, let it flow into the crack and go over it again and fill the entire crack with sealer.

I am not familiar with Diamond Clear. Just make sure whatever you put over top the the sealer they used is compatible or it may leave a milky finish.
 
I manufactured Portland Cement , 40 years was my sentence… 10 years in the lab, testing cement ,, electrical field for a while,, drilling and blasting underground for a bit… Heavy Equipment Foreman.. then, Maintenance Inspector for the rest of my career… I know a little about grinding rock, burning Cement Kilns, grinding clinker… just shit like that… always remember,,”Cement Makes It Hard!!!!😂😂😂
 
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Concrete guy.

IMG_2412.jpeg
 
@sirhrmechanic is, just don't ask him for feet pictures, he's grumpy

Not a chance… of being a. Concrete contractor. I just build occasional stuff here at the Schloss. None of it is even apprentice level concrete work. But it does check the box next to bow kills and bench pressing. So there.

And my feet pictures are already posted here for free so I don’t have to send more!

Cheers!

Sirhr
 
The contractor sprayed Euclid Diamond Clear on it after it was poured and finished. This was back in May. They put my relief cuts in the next day.

I want to get another coat of Diamond Clear on it before the winter to protect it from freeze / thaw cycles as much as possible here in PA. I planned on spraying it and having my son follow me with a 3/8in nap roller to smooth it out.

I believe Diamond Clear is a “cure/sealer”. My relief cuts are very thin. Only a saw blade wide. I’m having a hard time finding backer foam that I can wedge into the cuts before applying the self leveling sealant in the cuts.
IF the cut is 3/16” (blade width) you can use 1/4” backer rod, be sure to get it down into the joint (joint should be at least 1/4 the depth of the concrete). The top of the backer rod should be roughly 1/8” below the finished grade of the concrete. 890SL joint sealant is going to take roughly 12 hours to cure, temp and humidity dependent.
 
Man I must of missed one helluva thread in the past. I seriously do have questions though lol
Legendary Thread Reference #2

That thread is where you can find the beginnings of most of the inside jokes here.
 
So how thick does concrete have to be to drive on it? I was given a 14'x16' shed sitting on a concrete pad. We are gonna jack it up and slide Telephone poles under it. Pick it up and slide a trailer under those and move it 6 miles. I need to pour a pad at the farm for the shed and to unload the shed, I'm going to have to drive the tractor and trailer over the pad ONCE to put the shed in place. Tractor is a JD5100. I'm just wondering how thin a pad I can get away with. I mean, it's not a garage floor. And it will never be driven on again.

Hayden.
 
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So how thick does concrete have to be to drive on it? I was given a 14'x16' shed sitting on a concrete pad. We are gonna jack it up and slide Telephone poles under it. Pick it up and slide a trailer under those and move it 6 miles. I need to pour a pad at the farm for the shed and to unload the shed, I'm going to have to drive the tractor and trailer over the pad ONCE to put the shed in place. Tractor is a JD5100. I'm just wondering how thin a pad I can get away with. I mean, it's not a garage floor. And it will never be driven on again.

Hayden.
Just drive on it. Concrete only cracks once.
 
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t come in here and just start giving recommendations. You gotta start with your resume.

How many bow kills you got?

What’s your bench?

Just for fun. How do YOU polish Velcro sneakers?
Sorry, no bow kills.

My bench, not sure. I can curl quite a bit though. I'm up to something like 16oz.

Sneakers? That was epic. We gotta work in Crocs somehow.
 
So how thick does concrete have to be to drive on it? I was given a 14'x16' shed sitting on a concrete pad. We are gonna jack it up and slide Telephone poles under it. Pick it up and slide a trailer under those and move it 6 miles. I need to pour a pad at the farm for the shed and to unload the shed, I'm going to have to drive the tractor and trailer over the pad ONCE to put the shed in place. Tractor is a JD5100. I'm just wondering how thin a pad I can get away with. I mean, it's not a garage floor. And it will never be driven on again.

Hayden.
That tractor weighs about as much as my old Dodge...8000 lbs.
Pour your slab 4" thick with rebar 12"OC both ways. Be sure to use a thickened edge slab. 12" wide "footing" that is at least 12" deep. I'd use 2 #5's in the edge (4" from exterior, one on top of the other 4" apart, 4" from the bottom and 8" from the bottom) with #4's bent for tying those to the rest of the #4 rebar. Wait 7 days after initial cure and you should be fine to drive on it.
 
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The contractor sprayed Euclid Diamond Clear on it after it was poured and finished. This was back in May. They put my relief cuts in the next day.

I want to get another coat of Diamond Clear on it before the winter to protect it from freeze / thaw cycles as much as possible here in PA. I planned on spraying it and having my son follow me with a 3/8in nap roller to smooth it out.

I believe Diamond Clear is a “cure/sealer”. My relief cuts are very thin. Only a saw blade wide. I’m having a hard time finding backer foam that I can wedge into the cuts before applying the self leveling sealant in the cuts.
So in PA you are in the worst freeze/thaw latitude band there is. That southern MI and WI (my location) down to northern IL, IA, OH, all Iowa, PA etc has the most cycles per winter and subsequently the worst roads in the US. Farther north, once it freezes it stays froze and further south, well it doesn't freeze very often.

Sounds like you got it covered.

Make sure it's dry, you don't want to seal moisture in now, that time is past. Water will freeze.

The spray then roll keeps it 100% covered yet thin, no puddles as it can spot whiten.

As said above, backer rods can be shoved in a smaller joint or just fill with sand and the self leveling joint sealant will take over from there.

Concrete needs 28 days that hit 70 degrees to fully cure and give it its best performance against winter. We also recommend against salting for the first winter, but you have had plenty of cure time. Salt increases the freeze thaw cycling by like 10X, so if you don't have to don't do it.

I've never used the Diamond stuff and am not familiar with it. Read it and make sure it's usable as a sealer and not a cure and seal only. Probably is but all you have to do is read it.

JoeZ
 
Concrete only fails when the grade fails. If you're pouring on topsoil it better be 6" concrete with rebar as above. If it is a TB base that has seen several winters then 4" is fine. Compact and water any freshly grades base.
 
Or put the shed in place first and then pour under it and lower it to the slab. You still want a rebar perimeter to hold it together under the shed's weight, especially a floating slab in an area that you get frost in the ground.
 
That tractor weighs about as much as my old Dodge...8000 lbs.
Pour your slab 4" thick with rebar 12"OC both ways. Be sure to use a thickened edge slab. 12" wide "footing" that is at least 12" deep. I'd use 2 #5's in the edge (4" from exterior, one on top of the other 4" apart, 4" from the bottom and 8" from the bottom) with #4's bent for tying those to the rest of the #4 rebar. Wait 7 days after initial cure and you should be fine to drive on it.
Thank you sir!

Hayden.
 
Or put the shed in place first and then pour under it and lower it to the slab. You still want a rebar perimeter to hold it together under the shed's weight, especially a floating slab in an area that you get frost in the ground.
I actually had this Idea and suggested it to my dad. This may work just fine and won't have to drive on it.

I live in the sand hills of Central KS. We can water and pack that sand pretty well.

Hayden.
 
Any of you guys do concrete? Had our pool deck poured and brushed and I’m getting ready to seal it. Have a few questions.
Just seal it. I’ve never worried about putting backer rod in the control joints. If that anal about it it should have been poured with actually expansion joint and then caulked with mastic. The sealer getting in the joints will hurt nothing. The main thing with the joints is they should be cut about 25% depth minimum, (but don’t cut your rebar) and the concrete shouldn’t be bigger than 10’x10’ sections. Read the instructions of super diamond clear. I believe it’s a cure and seal, but it can be used as a follow up later on. I’ve used it over time on stained and stamped concrete. Works great. If you’re concerned about it being a cure and seal, then get a regular sealer, just be sure it’s not some cheesy water based product that won’t last 2 months. Should seal your concrete once a year minimum. As for credentials-I’ve done concrete long enough to be as good as any others I’ve seen and my back hurts 24/7 so I now run a batch plant.
 
I actually had this Idea and suggested it to my dad. This may work just fine and won't have to drive on it.

I live in the sand hills of Central KS. We can water and pack that sand pretty well.

Hayden.

If you have a way to do it, add a little laundry detergent into your water when compacting sand, it wlll increase the compaction.

Thank you.
MrSmith