The reason is that the vapour barrier stops moisture from the wet concrete escaping into the ground under the concrete.
No plastic under concrete slab.
The rate that moisture escapes from a slab depends on the concrete w c the density of the finish the ambient conditions above the slab and the moisture below the slab.
One contractor says to put plastic under the concrete it prevents moisture from coming up into the concrete.
What is a vapour barrier under a concrete slab and why do you need one.
If the plastic is right under the concrete the bleed water is forced to rise to the surface.
Why do concrete slabs need black plastic membranes under them.
The other contractor says no way no plastic holds the water in the concrete during the drying process and can leave webbing like visual affect in finish of concrete.
So it is common to use crushed stones with no fines as a capillary break and then add a plastic sheet over the top of the stones in contact with the concrete as a vapor barrier.
Almost everywhere except california that slabs are placed on the ground a plastic sheet a vapor barrier is located directly under the concrete slab and on top of the ground photograph 1.
So why not just use plastic and not stones.
A concrete vapor barrier is simply a sheet of polyethylene plastic visqueen placed directly on top of the sub grade before the concrete floor or slab is poured to help keep moisture from the soil from passing up through the concrete.
Or just use the plastic sheet to do both be the vapor barrier and the capillary break.
This plastic sheet is in direct contact with the concrete as it should be in a rational world.
The structural why fil.
One laboratory drying study indicated that 4 in.
It then reacts with the cement and soaks back into the concrete within an hour or two helping to complete the curing process.
This water can take literally years to dry out through the top of the concrete slab.
Thick concrete samples having a w c 0 50 and sealed from below required 82 days for the vapor emission rate to reach 3 0.