Concrete curing time calculator
QUIKRETE Concrete Mix reaches 2,500 psi at 7 days and its full 4,000 psi at 28: walk on it after a day or two, keep it damp for 5 days at 70 °F or warmer (7 when cooler), drive on it after a week and load it fully after 28 days.
Example: choose your mix and weather
Your curing timeline
48 hours before you walk on it
48 hours before you walk on it
Your curing timeline
- 48 hours before you walk on it
Each step and when
- Walk on it
- After 24 to 48 hours, the usual rule (the data sheet gives no time)
- Keep it damp until
- Day 5: 5 days of moist curing at 70 °F or warmer
- Keep it from freezing
- The first 48 hours: cover it with plastic sheeting and insulation blankets if the night may fall below 32 °F
- Strength at 7 days
- 2,500 psi
- Strength at 28 days
- 4,000 psi, its full design strength
- Drive a car on it
- After 7 days, the usual rule
- Heavy trucks and full loads
- Not before 28 days, its full strength; what it then carries depends on its thickness and base
The calculation
- QUIKRETE Concrete Mix (No. 1101): 2,500 psi at 7 days, 4,000 psi at 28 days (data sheet, Table 1)
- Walk-on time: none on the data sheet, so the usual 24 to 48 hours
- Moist curing: 5 days at 70 °F or warmer; no freezing in the first 48 hours
Common questions
How long does concrete take to cure?
It keeps gaining strength for about four weeks. QUIKRETE’s Concrete Mix reaches 2,500 psi at 7 days and its full 4,000 psi at 28 days. Keep it damp for the first 5 days in weather of 70 °F or warmer, or 7 days at 50 to 70 °F.
Source: QUIKRETE Concrete Mix No. 1101 data sheet. Listed on the Sources page.
When can I walk on new concrete?
After about a day or two for an ordinary mix such as QUIKRETE Concrete Mix, whose data sheet gives no time. The fast mixes give one: 4 hours for Fast-Setting and 10 to 12 hours for 5000 High Early Strength.
Source: QUIKRETE data sheets: 5000 High Early Strength Concrete Mix No. 1007, Crack Resistant Concrete Mix No. 1006 and Fast-Setting Concrete Mix No. 1004. Listed on the Sources page.
How long before I can drive on a new concrete driveway?
The usual rule is a week for a car and 28 days, when the concrete reaches its full strength, for a heavy truck. No QUIKRETE data sheet gives a time for a car. Keep vehicles off the edges longest, and wait longer if the weather has been cold.
Does cold weather slow concrete curing?
Yes. QUIKRETE’s times assume 50 °F or warmer, and the cement reacts much more slowly near freezing. New concrete must not freeze in its first 48 hours: cover it with plastic sheeting and insulation blankets if the night may fall below 32 °F.
How to plan the quantity
Concrete hardens because the cement reacts with water, not because it dries, so it gains strength for weeks after the pour. QUIKRETE’s data sheets give each mix’s strength by age: Concrete Mix reaches 2,500 psi at 7 days and its full 4,000 psi at 28 days; 5000 High Early Strength reaches 1,500 psi in a day and 2,500 psi in 3 days.
Keep it damp while it cures: QUIKRETE asks for 5 days of moist curing at 70 °F or warmer and 7 days at 50 to 70 °F, under plastic sheeting or wet burlap, with a sprinkler or with a curing compound. Below 50 °F the cement reacts much more slowly, so every step takes longer, and new concrete must not freeze in its first 48 hours.
QUIKRETE gives a walk-on time for its fast mixes only: 4 hours for Fast-Setting and 10 to 12 hours for 5000 High Early Strength. For Concrete Mix and Crack Resistant the usual rule is a day or two before foot traffic. No data sheet gives a time for a car; the usual rule is a week for a car, and no heavy truck before 28 days, the full design strength, and only on a slab made thick enough for one.
Before you order
- These are the times for the mix in mild weather. Cold, wind and a thin slab slow them; a heavy load, a hot tub or a delivery truck needs the strength your plan sets, so ask whoever designed or poured it.
- Ready-mix plants make many mixes. A slab poured from a truck follows the plant’s mix and its advice, which this calculator does not know.
Before ordering, read the guide: How much concrete do I need? Yards, bags and when to order a truck. Or choose another calculator.