Can you seal a concrete floor before it dries?

[ConcreteCrazy]

We have had a concrete floor laid with underfloor heating and it needs 3 months to dry before we can put flooring down. We were hoping to move back into the house before then but it generates so much dust I don't know if that is realistic. Someone told me you can seal a floor with PVA glue solution and that it will still dry. Does that sound right? The guy who laid the concrete is on holiday and we need to make a decision quickly.

pva is water soluble, so when you met mop it, will soften and dissolve into the water. When it dries it will be a mixture of glue and dirt.

there are some concrete sealants, but I have no experience of the problem you describe. For the moment you could use an open-weave matting such as sisal.

The area we have to cover is quite large so we'd spend a fortune on sisal matting. I've never done this before, do people usually live in such a dusty environment for months?

Use dehumidifiers to dry it more quickly or Lee the room very well ventilated so it can dry as quickly as possible.

Don't wet the floor or it will take longer to dry out.

I don't believe that sealants are a good idea but you can phone the technical department of the screed company used and ask them.

Good luck.

ask your flooring contractor. If she is any good she will always use a moisture tester on the floor before laying a covering. DPM can be used under some flooring. Wood products are very easily damaged by damp. Tiles might be OK.

Turning on the UFH would probably dry it quickly, but you have to be very slow and gentle when you first warm it or it may encourage cracking. A couple of weeks of being wet is usually enough to cure concrete to adequate hardness.

What flooring are you going to be putting down? We put our stone floor down about a month after our concrete was poured. It was summer and very warm and dry. Our floor was limestone, so pourous, and we weren’t that concerned. Concrete takes about 28 days to cure. Make sure you’ve turned the under floor heating on and off several times and it’s working properly before laying the floor. Obviously it will have been tested before pouring the concrete but it can’t hurt to check.

Flooring is wood so needs to be properly dry. Wood fitter has tested floor and says is still too wet but won't be drawn on when it might be dry or whether we can put a coating on it as it's not his product and mot getting any response from concrete company themselves. It has been down 4 weeks now so hopefully should be ok if we put UFH on low when that is all connected up. I have been told heating it won't make that much difference to drying time but we have the bifolds open all the time to air it.

Good tip to check the UFH thanks Janice, I will do that when we do get the boiler on.
Piglet, from what I understand a DPM won't work as the water in the concrete them doesnt have anywhere to go and will cause damp in the walls and damage the insulation underneath it.