I just had my drive cemented and it started raining 5 hours later. Will this hurt?
if the cement hadn't fully settled yet then it might hurt
Stephen is correct, it won't change the concrete's strength, but will probably give it a smoother finish than you would like. Contrary to popular opinion, concrete sets up, it doesn't dry.
it may effect the texture a bit but the cement should cure just fine despite the water. although the cure time will increase based on how much water was absorbed.
nicely, in case you fairly choose to do DIY, then might I propose no longer making use of concrete? I had a flooding subject and did the comparable element which you extremely choose to do. It cracked in distinctive places. additionally, each and all the companies that I talked to warned me that theirs could crack besides till i wanted it fairly thick. So, next time I had a flooding subject, I did here (AND IT worked) I have been given some concrete bricks, and a few mortar, and a few stucco, and a sponge drift--and equipped a short wall (think of of it like a shrink) then I stuccoed the exterior and used the sponge drift to grant it a mushy texture. it worked like a appeal, and that i've got been given 36 ft finished in a weekend.
Concrete is the correct term - cement is an ingredient of concrete. 5 hours cure time is enough to get a good hard set. Rain drops will not affect it. If your contractor used a Curing Sealant (which he should have) it seals the top layer so the moisture won't evaporate too quickly. As far as keeping water on it for 7 days. I've had a lot of concrete poured over the years and don't remember any subcontractors doing that on any of my jobs. But, they all use the Cure and Seal Compound. I hope he cut or tooled in control joints on your driveway. These are intended grooves in the top of the concrete which will control where the concrete cracks. If done right, when the concrete cracks, it will crack at the bottom of these grooves instead of randomly throughout the slab surface. Then once the crack appears, you can fill it with a product called NP1. It prevents the crack from expanding due to pressure from ice in the winter time. The most vunerable part of a new concrete driveway is the wings or flares on both sides of the entrance. Your truck or car tires hit this area one at a time and that weight can cause a triangle shaped section to crack on the end of the drive at the right and left sides. We always cut a control joint across these (2) areas, and also beef up the thickness of the concrete at these 2 places. Your driveway will be fine.
