Had a contractor yell at me for my broom finish last month

Guy told me my finish looked like a cat dragged a rake across it and walked off. Stung pretty bad but he was right, I was rushing the timing on the broom stroke. Went back to that same job site three days later and practiced on a scrap slab. Changed my whole approach to waiting for the bleed water to set just right before pulling the broom. Ever had a customer tell you something that actually made you better at your trade, or did you just write them off?

3 comments

3 Comments

umar4910d ago

Hang on, I gotta push back a little on the bleed water thing. You're not actually supposed to wait for all the bleed water to set before you pull the broom. If you wait too long for that, the concrete's gonna be too hard and you'll just get a weak, shallow texture that looks more like a scratch. The trick is to wait until the bleed water has evaporated off the surface but the slab is still soft underneath, that's the sweet spot. You want the broom to actually drag the aggregate, not just skim the top. Sounds like you're on the right track though, just watch for that timing window.

carter.joseph10d ago

I read once that waiting for the surface to matte out is the trick, does that match your experience?

phoenix57310d ago

Tbh I gotta disagree with you on the bleed water thing. I've been burned too many times waiting for that water to fully evaporate and ending up with a finish that looks like someone just tickled the surface with a broom. You're right that you don't want it bone dry, but I think there's a middle ground you're missing. If I pull the broom too early while there's still bleed water sitting on top, the water just fills back in over my texture and ruins the whole thing. I've found better luck going a little past where you're describing, letting the surface matte out completely, then hitting it while it's still got some give underneath. Different strokes for different crews I guess, but that shallow scratch look drove me crazy on enough jobs to switch it up.