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Almost ruined a whole day's pour because I trusted a cheap curing compound

Last Wednesday in Austin I was finishing up a 30-yard residential driveway and used this off-brand curing compound I grabbed at a hardware store to save $20. I sprayed it on right after the broom finish, thought everything was fine. Came back the next morning and the surface had this weird blotchy pattern, like the stuff didn't bond evenly and trapped moisture in spots. Had to grind down a 4x4 section and re-patch it, which ate up half my afternoon and made the homeowner real nervous. The foreman on site told me he's seen that happen with anything that isn't a major brand like Cure-N-Seal or equivalent. Anyone else run into trouble with bargain curing compounds, or was this just a bad batch?
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2 Comments
simonreed
simonreed6d ago
Wait, did you check the temperature when you sprayed it on? I've had cheap curing compounds fail when it's too hot or humid, just like your blotch issue @schmidt.blake... sometimes it's not the drying time but the weather messing with the chemistry. That patch job sounds brutal for a residential driveway, man.
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schmidt.blake
Did you follow the drying time to the letter?
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