Picked up a used MBW with a Honda motor off a guy retiring last spring. Buddy told me I was nuts spending that much as a solo finisher. First big garage slab I used it on I finished in half the time and the customer threw in a bonus. Second job was a warehouse floor and that one alone covered the cost. Has anybody else had a tool they were on the fence about that turned out way better than expected?
I had a 40x30 foot garage floor to finish last month and everyone told me to rent a power trowel to save time. But I stuck with my hand trowel, did the whole thing by hand over two days. It came out smoother than any power job I've seen around town because I could feel every low spot and fix it on the spot. My back hurt for a week but the owner said it was the flattest floor he's ever parked on. Any other finishers here prefer going old school on big pours?
Last spring I was pouring a small residential driveway outside Bellingham, maybe 30 yards total. Everything was going smooth until this neighbor's goat got loose and ran right across the wet concrete before I could get the finish on it. Left these perfect little hoof prints dead center in the middle pad. Homeowner was laughing her head off, said it added character. I had to trowel over those spots fast and hope the color matched. Ended up having to add a light broom finish to hide the rest of the texture. Now I always walk the perimeter of the job site first and check for loose animals before I even mix. Has anyone else had a weird animal incident mess up a pour?
Turns out the driver had accidentally dumped an extra 15 gallons in before he even got to my site, and by the time I noticed the slurry pooling it was too late to save the slab, has anyone else had a driver mess with the water without telling you?
Always thought resin floats were the way to go. Faster, lighter, less cleanup. Then I had a 500 square foot garage floor in Phoenix last August. Sun was brutal. The resin float just slid across the surface without actually working the cream. A old timer handed me his magnesium float. That thing grabbed the surface and closed it up in half the time. Never going back for hot weather pours. Anybody else find resin floats useless above 95 degrees?
I've been finishing concrete for about 8 years now and always kind of guessed on when to start troweling based on feel. Last week I borrowed a buddy's digital concrete moisture meter and checked a 20x30 patio I poured outside Tulsa. Turns out I was starting about 45 minutes too early on average, which explains why some of my earlier jobs had that slight dusting issue. Has anyone else tried timing trowel starts with one of those meters instead of just going by touch?
I was finishing up a driveway in Lincoln last week and this old foreman from another crew walked by while I was bull floating. He told his apprentice that exact thing and it got me thinking. I've been in this trade for about 6 years and I used to let little waves or low spots slide if they were barely noticeable. But that phrase stuck because he wasn't being harsh about it, just matter of fact. I spent an extra 20 minutes working that slab to get it as flat as I could with my straightedge and the customer even mentioned how level it looked when they came out. It's a simple thing but hearing someone else say it out loud made me realize I've been cutting corners on small stuff without even knowing it. Any of you guys have a quote from a veteran that actually changed how you work on site?
I figured it would speed up the set but the finish went brittle and started flaking off, has anyone else had bad luck with accelerators in damp weather?
Lost $180 on a 5-gallon bucket of the stuff that peeled off my driveway in less than 6 months here in Nashville, now I'm stuck with a patchy mess that I have to grind off before I can do it right - has anyone else dealt with that nightmare of fixing a failed sealer job?
I was getting ready to pour a driveway in 95 degree heat last August, and this retired finisher named Bob walked over from the property next door. He asked how much water I had in the mix and told me to cut it by 4 gallons to avoid shrinkage cracking. I listened to him and that slab came out smooth with zero spider cracks. Has anyone else had a random stranger save their job on site?
I was grabbing coffee at a gas station near a job site in Des Moines yesterday and heard two guys talking about a new subdivision going in. One of them said they're not cutting any control joints on the driveways to cut costs by about $150 per slab. That's just asking for random cracks splitting through the whole thing in six months. Has anyone else run into builders trying to skip the basics like this?
I've been using a 36 inch bull float for years, but last week I tried a 24 inch magnesium float on a 400 square foot patio job near Austin. The surface came out way smoother with almost no drag marks, and the timing on the initial set felt more forgiving. Has anyone else seen a bigger difference switching float sizes than they expected?
I was picking up a load of sacks at Allied Concrete in Phoenix and this retiree named Hank watched me struggle to get a clean edge on a sidewalk form. He just said "wet your float, kid, and quit fighting the concrete" without even looking up from his truck. Has anyone else had a random stranger drop a piece of knowledge that totally changed how you work?
I was reading the specs on a job near Omaha last month and discovered that wet curing blankets can actually increase concrete strength by over 20% compared to just leaving it exposed. That stat came from the Portland Cement Association's field guide. Has anyone else seen a difference using them vs. just spraying water?
I was working a 5000 square foot warehouse floor in Fresno last August, middle of a heat wave, and we had to decide fast on curing method. The foreman wanted to spray on curing compound because it's faster and we could move on to the next job. I argued for wet curing with burlap and soaker hoses because that's what I learned from my old mentor who swore by it. We went with the compound and three days later we had serious surface checking in a corner section that dried too fast. Now I'm stuck wondering if wet curing would have saved that slab or if we just didn't spray enough compound in that spot. Has anyone else had a slab fail because of a curing method debate and what did you end up changing for the next job?
I was talking to a guy at the supply yard yesterday who swore he'd never do broom finish again after seeing one crack all along the broom lines, but my old crew boss always said exposed aggregate traps salt and rusts out worse. What do you guys use on northern drives that actually holds up?
Tried that expensive spray cure from the supply house on a big driveway job in Austin last summer. It flaked off in sheets after two days and left the whole slab looking patchy. Anyone else had this junk fail on them?
I was pouring a small patio slab in Phoenix and the sun heated my trowel handle so bad it blistered my arm through my glove. My buddy told me to wrap the handle in duct tape and soak it in water before use. Has anyone else tried keeping their tools wet to stop heat transfer during summer pours?
Every pour was 4 inches thick with fiber mesh and we hit the timing perfect on the broom finish each time, what's the secret to making those lucky streaks last longer?
I did it on a 30x40 slab and the finish came out way too open and porous, which taught me that tool choice really depends on the mix and the weather, not just the size of the pour. Anyone have a better method for a tight finish on a big slab like that?
He pointed out that my straight back-and-forth pulls were just pushing the cream around instead of working it in, and after trying his method on a 20-yard garage slab last Thursday, I'm never going back.
He said the mix would be fine if we just added a gallon of water per yard to keep it workable. The slab cracked in three places before we even finished the broom finish. What's your go-to method for a hot weather pour?
We were about halfway through a 20 yard pour for a garage floor when a sudden downpour hit. I had to scramble to cover the wet concrete with plastic sheets while my partner, Mike, tried to smooth out the water that already got on it. We ended up having to wait an extra hour for the rain to stop and then re-trowel the whole surface. Has anyone else had to deal with surprise weather messing up a finish?