I hit it with a surface sealer right away but my buddy says I should have just left it alone and monitored it. Anyone dealt with the same and regretted sealing or not sealing too soon?
Poured a walkway in my own backyard last Tuesday and was fighting the finish the whole time. Come to find out my magnesium trowel had a burr on the edge from a drop earlier that week. Tiny little thing but it was leaving scratches in the cream every pass. Anyone else ever have a tool defect mess up their surface before you even noticed?
Last week in Phoenix I stepped on what looked like dry slab and sank knee-deep into wet mix that hadn't set yet under the surface. Has anyone else nearly lost a boot to that trick?
Bought a gallon of that expensive bio-degradable stuff. Looked good on paper. First pour I did with it, the forms stuck like glue. Spent 4 hours chiseling off plywood. Old timer at the yard laughed and told me diesel and mineral oil works fine. Tried it on a small slab last week. Came off perfect. Wish I had that $150 back. Anyone else get burned by overpriced form oil?
I did a 400 square foot patio in Akron using a stamped overlay kit from a big box store, and the homeowner wanted it to match the look of a broom finish pour from 2018. The overlay ended up cracking along the control joints after three weeks, while the old pour is still solid. Has anyone else had better luck with one method over the other for resurfacing work?
Been doing concrete for about 8 years now. Always did everything by hand, thought power trowels were for guys who couldn't finish right. Then I took a job at a big warehouse pad in Cleveland back in May, 40,000 square feet. Foreman told me to use his power trowel or go home. First few passes I felt like I was fighting the machine, left ridges everywhere. Took me like 3 jobs before I got the feel for how to overlap the passes and keep a consistent edge. Now I can only do hand work on little walkways and steps. Anyone else struggle making that switch or is it just me?
I had a big driveway job last June in Akron and the heat was brutal. The concrete was setting way too fast on me. A older finisher I know told me to lay wet burlap over the fresh slab and keep it damp. It slowed the cure down just enough to get a clean finish. Anyone else use burlap for hot weather pours?
I was walking through a new subdivision in Austin last weekend and saw a fresh concrete driveway that looked smooth as glass, but there wasn't a single control joint cut into it after three days of curing. The finisher told me they were trying to save time and skipped the saw cuts, but I figure that slab is going to crack all over the place by summer. Has anyone else run into homeowners pushing for skipping joints to save money, and how do you explain the risk to them?
Was reading through ACI 302 last night and saw that stat about adding extra water on site. Blew my mind because I see guys doing it all the time on residential slabs around Portland. Anyone else run into this where the boss just tells you to wet it down anyway even when you know it's messing with the strength?
I always knew hot weather was bad for curing but I didnt realize it could cut the strength that much, has anyone else seen test cylinders come back lower from summer pours?
I was fighting with getting consistent lines on a big driveway pour last month, tried everything from different broom stiffness to varying my pace. An old timer named Sully came over and showed me to wet the broom handle first, just dip it in the water bucket before every pass. It stopped the drag marks I was getting on the second and third passes, really cleaned up the finish. Has anyone else tried something simple like that that just worked?
I was finishing a residential driveway on 35th Avenue yesterday and remembered my first big pour back in 2011. Back then we had to hand trowel and wait for the sun to cure it just right. Now I had a curing compound and a power trowel running in half the time. Anyone else feel like the trade moved faster than they expected over the last 10 years?
I had to choose between renting a power trowel for a 500 square foot garage floor or doing it all by hand with my mag float. Went with the power trowel and it saved me hours but I felt like I lost some control on the edges. Anyone else wrestle with this call on a residential pour?
I was doing a small 200 square foot patio pour at a backyard wedding in Austin last June. About halfway through the finish, like 15 guests in suits and dresses walked over with drinks and started filming me on their phones. One guy yelled "smooth it out" like I was on a game show. I had to stop and ask everyone to back up so I didn't trip over a chair. Has anyone else had random people turn a regular job into a free show?
I've been finishing for about 3 years now and my personal best was always around 300 sq ft. Last Tuesday we had a driveway job in Columbus that measured out at 503 sq ft and I was the lead with one helper. We finished in 6 hours flat and I honestly don't know if I got faster or if the mix was just that good. Anyone else run into a number that made you question your own limits?
Had a slab cure for a driveway and the sky opened up right after we finished. Woke up at 4am Tuesday to tarp it but the surface was already cratered. Anyone else have luck salvaging a pour that got beat by rain before it set?
Was pouring a 12x20 patio for a retiree in Sun City and the mix started setting too fast because the truck sat for 20 minutes, so I had to work in some control joints with a hand groover and wet cure it with mist every half hour to save the finish, has anyone else dealt with hot weather flash setting like that?
I was finishing a big slab for a warehouse out in Phoenix last August. The foreman walks over and says "your edges look like garbage, you're pulling the float too early." I was pissed at first but he showed me to wait an extra 20 minutes and use a lighter touch. Now I check the bleed water before I even touch the edges. Anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from rushing?
Tbh I realized I've been using too much water on my surface before brooming - the sun here dries it out so fast it looked like a mess. Anyone else have tricks for keeping a consistent finish in desert heat?
I bought a cheap gas pump off Craigslist for a slab pour in Phoenix, and it clogged solid after 20 minutes - ended up hauling wheelbarrows for the whole job. Has anyone else had luck with those sub-$500 pumps or are they all junk?
Ngl, I was using a stiff push broom and really leaning into it until a retired finisher in Phoenix told me I was scarring the surface. Switched to a medium-bristle broom and started using lighter passes, now the texture is way more consistent. Has anyone else gotten weird feedback that totally changed their technique?
Used to swear by the magnesium because that's what my old boss in Tampa used, but the resin float leaves a way finer finish with half the effort. Anyone else made the switch and noticed their cream comes up faster?
I was in Denver last month doing a small residential slab and the homeowner mentioned his old driveway had the same hairline cracks I was seeing in my own work. He said he stopped using plain sand in his mix and started using crushed stone dust instead, and his patches held up way better. Has anyone else tried switching up their aggregate for smaller repairs?
Last Tuesday I poured a 20x30 patio slab in Kansas City and figured I'd save a few bucks buying the generic expansion joint filler from a big box store instead of the name brand stuff I normally get from my supply house. Big mistake. The filler was way too rigid and cracked right along every joint after only three days of curing. The homeowner called me yesterday saying the gaps are already showing and it looks like crap. Now I gotta tear out all that filler, buy the good stuff from my supplier, and redo it on my own dime. That cheap filler cost me an extra $150 in materials and a full day of labor. Has anyone else had bad luck with generic joint filler or is it just me?
Last month I did a 400 square foot patio in Austin and figured I'd save some time by using my go-to finishing trowel for both the concrete work and then the acid stain application. Big mistake. The stain residue got into the trowel's surface and left weird dark streaks across the fresh slab the next day. Had to grind down and redo an entire 8x10 section. Cost me an extra $150 in materials and a full Saturday. Has anyone else had a tool cross-contaminate a job like that?