Floor drying times in a conservatory. - Tile Advice

[Old Mod]

I hope you aren't referring to my post andystiletiling!

Haha I’m pretty convinced he wasn’t Alan haha

 

[Ajax123]

No he wasn't... just me being paranoid

 

[LM]

There’s no way Andy would be dissing you like that Alan, I’m as sure as can be that he’s referring to an earlier poster

 

[Ajax123]

There’s no way Andy would be dissing you like that Alan, I’m as sure as can be that he’s referring to an earlier poster

its ok. He sent me a PM.

 

[Slippery]

I was always told 1mm per day
I would expect the floor to be a minimum of 100mm thick, so three months would be a good estimate.
I'm not sure putting a DPM on top would be a good idea as the moisture could never escape!?

 

[Flintstone]

1mm per day up to 40mm then 1mm every two days for any additional thickness, at optimum temperature. People take this as gospel, I’ve seen it a lot, when it’s only been a few degrees or no windows in the house.

 

[Ajax123]

I was always told 1mm per day
I would expect the floor to be a minimum of 100mm thick, so three months would be a good estimate.
I'm not sure putting a DPM on top would be a good idea as the moisture could never escape!?

If it's concrete it has 2 drying mechanisms. 1 is evaporation. The Other is hydration. This is the hardening reaction and continues until the moisture is used up. It takes a while. Liquid DPMs on damp concrete are extremely common in the UK. There are loads of them.

 

[Slippery]

@Ajax123 , I meant whilst the concrete is still curing

 

[hmtiling]

Ditra or durabase simples

 

[Ajax123]

@Ajax123 , I meant whilst the concrete is still curing

Hmmm. Curing is a much mis quoted term. Curing of concrete is carried out by either spraying on a curing membrane or by covering with a sheet of polythene. We used to use damp Hessian many years ago. This process is designed to entrap as much moisture in the concrete whilst it sets and gains enough internal strength to prevent cracking due to drying shrinkage. It takes typically 7 days. Once done the concrete can be allowed to dry by evaporation. It is equally possible and some would say sensible to keep the moisture entrapped as the hydration reaction simply continues making the concrete gain strength ad infinitum. One of the reasons we see so many sand cement screeds crack is because they are not cured. Many people confuse curing with setting and also with drying. They are all separate functions. In short it is perfectly ok to entrap residual moisture in a screed or concrete provided there is a DPM below it. Liquid membranes are good for this. We used to use bitumen or black jack as it was called. They are usually epoxy these days. There must be a DPM below as the membranes are not designed to cope with the variable vapour pressures caused by rising damp. Hope this helps.