Too much moisture and concrete won't set properly (or at all) and this can cause serious damage to your concrete structures. There are chemicals that are released into concrete when it's being poured that seal the pores shut and prevent any more absorption. But, it can absorb moisture and cause damage if too much builds up beneath your concrete for too long. Concrete will not absorb surface water even if you pour hundreds of gallons of water on top of a newly poured slab.Ĭoncrete is a porous structure, but not in a way that allows water to through the entire slab. So, does concrete absorb water poured on top of it? No. Since each particle also forms thousands of tiny air pockets between itself and its neighbours, gravity can pull water down through them until any puddle evaporates or moves somewhere else. The sand and gravel particles in the cement harden and concrete mix interlocks with one another to keep everything sturdy. It already contains too much water and there's no need for additional moisture to make it work correctly. Other concrete floors will not absorb an excessive amount of moisture in the soil due to its high-quality mixture. When making concrete you need to set and cure it properly to allow the chemical process and avoid coarse aggregates. Thus, it is not only indoor concrete surfaces that are safe from absorbing rainwater. The cement mixture hardens and becomes waterproof to prevent any water absorption. No, there is no way concrete absorbs water. Therefore, do not worry about your hardened concrete walls or concrete floors absorbing water.ĭoes the surface of a concrete wall absorb rainwater? If the mixing process is started correctly, that ratio will never be reached because concrete sets properly within a couple of hours and then it will naturally resist absorbing any more water. The curing process holds everything together and because it has some give and flexibility to it, no matter how strong nor thick nor heavy a slab might be if set properly it will never need support because gravity won't cause it to fail.Ĭoncrete absorbs only an infinitesimally small amount of moisture until its ideal calcium-to-carbonate ratio has been reached. So why doesn't concrete floor crumble when it rains? The combination of sand, gravel and cement hold each other in place by forming an interlocking matrix through chemical reactions. Also, you can use portland cement which stays hard even on high relative humidity. Semi-solid concrete must be damp throughout the mixing and placing process so that all the ingredients mix together correctly and set to their optimal strength. The water is responsible for all the chemical reactions in your cement mix. The final reason that concrete floor does not absorb water is that it already contains a high amount of water. The purpose of using sand and gravel in the mixture is to keep the particles porous so that when water does land on or near a piece of concrete it will flow through all these voids between the sand and gravel particles until it reaches beneath an impermeable layer such as soil which acts as a sump for the flowing water. There is no way properly prepared concrete will absorb water. It occurs when reactions eventually prevent water tightness on the concrete. The concrete also goes through a process called curing. A concrete mixture can be made from fine aggregates like sand, rocks, and cement but it doesn't dissolve in the rain or even when submerged underwater.
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