What decides
eight pours or three.
A film-faced panel is rated at 8–12 cycles under normal site conditions. The word “normal” is doing a lot of work in that sentence, because most panels that die early are killed by handling rather than by the board, and the same panel in two yards gives two different numbers.
Seven things, none of them the panel
| Stripping | A crowbar driven between the face and the concrete gouges the film at the edge. Every later strip starts at that gouge and lifts further. Strip from the corner, flat, not into the face. |
| Cleaning | Water and a soft brush preserve the film. A grinder or a sanding disc takes the film off with the cement, and a panel with film removed at the joint is finished at the joint. |
| Release agent | Diesel works and shortens life; a proper mould oil costs less per pour than the film it saves. Over-application is as damaging as none, because it leaves a soft layer that traps grit. |
| Cuts and edges | Every cut exposes the core. An unsealed edge absorbs water, swells and lifts the film. Repaint cut edges before the next pour, not after the failure. |
| Storage | Flat, dry, off the ground, out of the sun. Stacked on edge in the open, a panel in a Gulf summer cups and the film delaminates before it is used. |
| Screw holes | Reused holes leak cement and water into the core. Rotate the hole pattern, or plug the previous holes. |
| Pressure and vibration | Tall pours with high fresh-concrete pressure and long vibration load the face harder than the cycle count suggests. That is where a denser core earns its price. |
The arithmetic that matters
Cost per pour is the panel price divided by the pours it gives, plus the keeping cost. Two panels, one at the lower end of the public band and one at the higher end, and the cheaper one giving five pours against nine:
Lower-band panel: price X ÷ 5 pours = 0.20 X per pour. Higher-band panel at roughly 1.15 X: 1.15 X ÷ 9 pours = 0.128 X per pour. The panel that looked 15 % more expensive is about 36 % cheaper per pour.
The multiplication only works with honest inputs. If a supplier cannot tell you the pour count he expects in your climate, the arithmetic is decoration.
Signs a panel is finished, not just tired
Film peeling from the edge inward by more than a hand width; a face that stays damp after cleaning; thickness grown visibly at the joint; soft spots that take a screw without resistance. Once the film has lifted at a joint, no amount of sealing restores that joint — the panel moves to a non-face application, hoarding, ramp sheeting or site protection.
Fifteen minutes of edge painting after a cut buys more pours than any additive, and it is the single most common difference between a yard that reports twelve cycles and one that reports four.
Where the rest of it is written down
The panel figures — 60 g/m² film, finished weight 180–185 g/m², WBP phenolic glue with a 72 h boil test, moisture 8–12 % — are on the specifications page. The board itself is described on the black film-faced page, and the comparison against a cheaper core is in the combi core note.