How long before you should add a finish to concrete floor in lanai?
 

My wife and I recently bought a brand new house in The Villages. The floor in the lanai is just raw concrete and not so attractive. We'd like to put a nice finish on it and have gone as far as getting bids from some providers recommended by members of TOTV. A friend, who is NO expert on concrete and doesn't pretend to be, brought up the idea she'd heard that you should really let concrete cure very thoroughly before putting on a finish and that "very thoroughly" can actually mean "several years".

Has anybody heard if there's any truth in this? Have you had a finish put on your new concrete and later regretted it because of something to do with incomplete curing?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies!

We are putting in a birdcage, I called Driveways by Jay (does excellent work) and asked him about doing the birdcage like he did our driveway. I told me the "aging" would be one month, then it could be coated.

Can tell you that concrete does not take "several years" to cure. If it did it would really slow most home building down.

Concrete takes 28 days to cure 100% It is a specific chemical reaction when the portland cement is hydrated ( mixed with water). It doesn't matter whether you pour a patio slab, or dump it in the lake. 28 days later it is 100 % cured.

Accurate
 

The portland cement google results say it gains most of it's strngth the first seven days.

Well, since the house is at least a few months to go, it sounds like the lanai is more than ready to be finished. Thanks all for the quick and helpful replies!