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Just realized I've been overworking my concrete on bigger pours
I was on a job in Columbus last month pouring a 40x60 garage floor. Had a helper who used to work highway paving, and he told me to back off the finishing time by about 20 minutes. Turns out I was burning the cream before it even had a chance to set right. Has anyone else gotten better results by just letting the concrete sit a little longer before you start?
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jessej231mo ago
That thing you said about the thin crust flaking off - MAN that hit home. My buddy Vinny runs a crew out in Akron and he did a big driveway where they were fighting bleed water the whole time. Started finishing too fast and that top layer looked perfect for about 8 months. Then the Ohio winter hit and it started peeling up like a bad sunburn, chunks everywhere. He had to jackhammer the whole thing and repour. Cost him almost 6 grand out of pocket plus the concrete truck fees. Now he sets a timer on his phone and won't touch the trowel until it goes off.
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wade2501mo ago
Oh MAN you hit on something big here. That highway guy knew his stuff - I've been doing concrete work for 12 years and I'm just now learning to SLOW DOWN. It's wild how we all get in this rush to start finishing because we think we're being efficient, but really we're just making more work for ourselves later with sealing issues and cracking. I've seen guys start troweling while the bleed water is still sitting there and they end up with that thin crust on top that flakes off in a year. Letting it sit those extra minutes lets the whole slab set more uniform so you're not fighting the surface while the bottom is still soupy.
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How many times have we all watched a guy practically swim in bleed water with a trowel in his hand, right? I swear some fellas think they're speed finishing at a rodeo instead of laying concrete. That timer trick Vinny picked up is a good one, I've seen coffee breaks do the same thing just let the slab tell you when it's ready. Half the problems I see on flatwork come from folks being in too big a hurry to get the power trowel on it. Like you said, that top skin looks pretty for a season then it's flake city. Beats me why we keep having to learn this lesson the hard way.
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