Had to choose between a hand trowel finish and a power trowel on a 500 square foot garage floor

Last week I bid a small garage job in Omaha where the homeowner wanted a super smooth finish but the slab was too tight for my big power trowel. I went with a hand trowel and used a magnesium float for the final passes, but it took me 4 hours longer than I planned and my wrist is still sore. Has anyone else dealt with choosing between hand and power on a small residential slab that turned out trickier than you thought?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianm661mo ago

Power trowels aren't always the answer on tight slabs, but hand troweling a 500 square foot floor is asking for trouble. A walk-behind power trowel would have saved you that wrist pain and still given a smooth finish if you ran it right. Magnesium float is great but it can't match the consistent pressure a machine puts down over a whole pour.

drew_jones311mo ago

Well damn, you might've just changed my mind on this. I've always been a hand trowel purist on smaller pours but I can see how the consistent pressure of a walk-behind would save your joints and still get a good finish. Guess I've been making things harder on myself for no reason.

jana8811mo agoTop Commenter

The real issue nobody's touching on is the timing between passes with a power trowel versus hand work. When you're doing it by hand, the concrete starts setting differently in different spots because you're moving slow. A power trowel keeps everything on the same clock so you don't end up with hard and soft spots across the slab. Also wonder how many guys have tried running a power trowel with the blades set flat and just riding it gentle, instead of always trying to get that aggressive finish.