Will the Wet Concrete in an Icf Wall Release Moisture Into the Home or Building as It Cures and Affect the Interior Humidity Levels?
Once poured in place concrete never cures completely, it actually gets a little harder each day. As the cement bonds with the water molecules, the concrete gets harder.
By 7 days concrete should be cured to have 70% of its strength. By 28 days you can treat your concrete as fully hardened.
In this curing process, the concrete becomes porous and a certain amount of the water becomes part of the concrete.
The water that is leftover either evaporates or remains in the capillaries of the concrete.
So, in an ICF wall, does the portion of the water that evaporates affect the humidity inside the home or building?
The answer is no, this is not normally a concern.
First of all, unless the concrete was quite saturated the amount of water evaporating would not be of concern.
In addition, the foam panels of the ICF block are vapor barriers, so unless there are large gaps in the joints between the ICF blocks (which is not normal at all) The evaporating moisture would not enter the home or building.
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