Pouring Concrete

(Page 5 of 5)

April/May 2002
By Steve Maxwell 
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The time to use the texturing mat is when the concrete has lost some surface sheen from drying, yet is still soft. Use the mat too soon and water will rise to the surface, weakening the top layer. Use the mat too late and you won't get crisp details. Sprinkle an even coat of powdered release agent on the concrete, lay the mat down, then drive it into the concrete with multiple blows from your pounding tool. Lift the mat slowly, reapply some release agent and repeat in the next spot over. If you live in an area that gets freezing weather, seal the surface with a water repellent after the concrete has cured for month. Preventing water absorption stops the surface chipping and flaking, or spalling, which eventually ruins so much concrete.

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Steve Maxwell grew up in the city but came to his senses in 1990, when he and his wife moved into a stone-and-timber home they built themselves on a 90-acre Canadian farm on Manitoulin, the largest freshwater island in the world.
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  • Lynn 9/14/2008 2:46:05 PM

    I currently have a four inch pad that is too low, and want to pour an additional 3-4 inches on top of this pad...what do I have to do to insure a successful adhesion of one pad to the other? Thank you.

  • Jack 4/13/2007 9:08:25 AM

    Using a board to level concrete is called screeding, not screening.
    My dictionary doesn't like the word screeding but it's okay with
    screed.

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