PSA: Stop troweling wet concrete like it's buttercream frosting

I was on a driveway pour last Tuesday over in Maplewood and this young guy kept trying to finish the surface before the bleed water had even evaporated. He was smoothing it out like he was icing a cake. The result was this cloudy, scaly mess that looked terrible the next morning. I had to grind off a good 3 feet of it and re-pour. The secret is just waiting, you gotta let that water sit and then hit it at the right time. Have any of you had to fix a job someone rushed like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_fisher1mo ago

Man I had to tear out a whole garage slab once because a guy couldn't wait for the water to dry up.

amy_craig281mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I gotta push back a little on that (respectfully, of course). Bleed water is there for a reason but waiting for it to fully dry up isn't always the right call either. I've seen guys let a slab sit too long in hot weather and it crusts over while the water's still sitting on top, then you trap all that moisture underneath and get those nasty surface delaminations. Or the wind comes through and dries the top too fast while the bottom is still wet and you end up with a weak, powdery surface anyway. Timing is more about watching the concrete lose that sheen and then hitting it at the right moment, not just waiting until everything bone dry. Patience is good but knowing when to work it is the real skill, you know?

logan_mitchell1mo ago

Jump right in and wait for that bleed water to do its thing before you touch it. I've fixed way too many jobs where someone got impatient and turned a perfect slab into a dusty mess that needed grinding. Patience is literally the cheapest tool you've got.