c/concrete-finishers

Swore by a frother for curing compound, got lucky it worked out

My uncle who's been pouring slabs in Phoenix since the 80s told me to use a cheap paint mixer drill bit to stir my curing compound instead of the specialty paddle. I thought he was going cheap, but I tried it on a 3000 square foot warehouse floor last week and it mixed way smoother than my old setup. Turns out that specialty paddle was whipping air bubbles into the mix, causing tiny craters on the surface after I sprayed it. He just laughed and said he learned that trick from a guy who does colored stamped patios. Has anyone else had trouble with air getting trapped in their curing compound, or am I overthinking this?

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elliot_roberts•6d ago

Went to check out that big pour in Phoenix and the curing method was off

Stopped by the High Street project in Phoenix on Tuesday and noticed they were using clear plastic sheeting direct on the fresh slab without any moisture barrier underneath it. In 105 degree heat that's asking for delamination and surface crusting, all over a 40,000 sq ft floor. Anyone else been called in to fix jobs where the GC skimped on the cure process like this, or am I just seeing the bad ones?

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skyler_robinson2•6d ago

I finally found a cool trick for stamping patterns on sloped driveways

Went to a job in Spokane last month, watching a crew do a sloped driveway with stamped concrete. I always thought you had to keep the boards level, but they angled the stamps with the slope and it came out looking sharp. No uneven edges or double stamp marks. I asked the foreman about it and he said they just walk downhill with the stamp, let gravity do the work. I tried it on a small patio slab yesterday and it saved me maybe 20 minutes of fiddling. Anyone else do this or am I late to the party?

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ward.anna•12d ago

Old timer told me my trowel pass was too aggressive, 3 months later it clicked

I was on a slab in Tulsa and this retired finisher watched me work for like 10 minutes. He said I was pushing the trowel too hard and too early, messing up the cream. I switched to lighter passes and waited longer between each one, and now my finish comes out way smoother with less patch work. Has anyone else gotten that kind of coaching on trowel pressure, or is it just something you feel out over time?

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val_ramirez•12d ago

The $350 power trowel blades that saved my knees in Austin

Been finishing for 12 years and always used the cheap blades from the supply house. Last month I bit the bullet on a set of the higher end ones with the better angle grind. Holy crap the difference. Machine didn't vibrate as bad, finish came out smoother, and I didnt have to bend over as much to check. Spend the extra money on blades if you do a lot of flatwork. Anyone else notice a big difference with premium blades or was I just lucky?

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torres.blair•14d ago

Overheard a pump operator drop a nugget about slump loss

I was waiting on a load in Austin last Thursday and caught two guys talking about how they time their water addition on hot days, something about adding it in thirds instead of all at once. They said it keeps the slump more stable during the pour and cuts down on surface cracks later, which honestly made me reconsider my whole routine. Has anyone else tried splitting the mix water like that, or do you just dump it and go?

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stella22•15d ago

Power trowel blades finally won me over after 9 years of hand finishing

I always swore by hand floating. Learned it from my old foreman back in 2009 and figured power trowels were for guys who couldn't read a slab. Then last month we did a 12,000 sq ft warehouse floor in Tulsa, 4 inch slump mix, and the crew was dying by 2pm. My partner rented a ride on machine for the day, I said no way. He talked me into just trying it on one bay. That thing put a finish on in 20 minutes that took me an hour hand floating, and it was flatter too. I checked with a straight edge and everything. Now I'm wondering if I've been wasting years or if this was just a good slab. Anyone else hard headed about hand tools and then switched? How long did it take you to trust the machine on stamped work?

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hannah_west39•16d ago

I finally told a homeowner no after he kept changing the slab size

Guy in Columbus wanted a 20x30 patio. I gave him a quote. Next day he emails asking for 22x30. I adjust. Then he wants a curve added. Then he wanted a different color. Every time I showed up to prep, he had a new idea. On day three he told me he thinks 18x24 is actually what he wants. I packed up my tools and said "I can't keep guessing, you need to pick a number and stick with it." He got mad but I don't care. Has anyone else walked off a job over this? How do you handle owners who treat measurements like suggestions?

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leo986•17d ago

Hit 5,000 square feet in one pour, my arms still feel it

We did a warehouse slab in Denver last Friday, 5,000 square feet, 6 inches thick, and pumped it all in one continuous pour. My partner and I took turns on the bull float for almost 4 hours straight, never thought we'd pull it off without a cold joint. Ended up with six finishers on the crew and it still ran us till 9pm. Anyone else had a pour that size make them rethink their crew setup or equipment?

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alicer53•18d ago

Missed a control joint on a 60-foot pour in Tulsa

Last month I was finishing a big slab at a warehouse in Tulsa, and I got distracted by the pump truck driver arguing about his hose. I skipped a control joint that my layout guy had chalked. Sure enough, it cracked right down the middle the next morning, about 6 feet from where I was supposed to cut. I ended up chasing it with a saw and filling it with a flexible sealant, but the client saw the line and made me knock $400 off the invoice. Has anyone else had a crack show up that close to a missed joint, or do I just own this one?

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brooket43•18d ago

Fog rolled in on a big float in Portland and I panicked

I was finishing a 40-yard driveway pour up in the west hills around 6am last Tuesday when the fog came in so thick I could barely see the forms. The surface started to sweat and I had to burnish it dry with a mag before it turned to dust, then threw on a curing compound way earlier than I normally would. Anyone else had a batch go bad from morning moisture like that, or did I just overreact?

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mark_green•21d ago

Spent 6 hours on a slab level only to find a buried gas line

Job in Reno last week, we poured a 40 foot walkway and I couldn't get one corner to settle right. Took me 6 hours of re-screeding and bull floating before the homeowner mentioned his old dog used to dig there. Turns out there was a buried sprinkler pipe under that spot, not a gas line, but my back still hates me. Any of you ever fight a slab for hours only to realize it was something dumb underneath?

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david703•23d ago

Slab poured in Reno last month, the wind taught me a lesson about curing compound

We had a 40 yard pour for a warehouse floor out in the Sparks area. Forecast said calm, but by noon the gusts were hitting 25 mph. I sprayed the curing compound per the mix design, same as always. Come back the next morning and there were these hairline cracks all over the southeast corner. Turns out the wind dried the surface too fast in that section, and the compound just wasn't enough. I called the ready mix rep, and he said we should've used a fog nozzle or wet burlap for the first few hours. Now I always check the wind before I pour, even if the forecast looks good. Has anyone else had wind mess up a flatwork finish on a big slab? What do you do to slow the dry-down?

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rodriguez.mia•23d ago

Old timer's trowel trick saved my slab last Tuesday

I was finishing a driveway in Phoenix and this retired guy walks up, watches me fight the sun for a minute, then says 'wet the trowel, don't just clean it'. I gave it a quick dip in the bucket and the drag disappeared, the cream came up way smoother. Any other finishers swear by a wet trowel on hot days, or is that just a desert thing?

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paul_ramirez•24d ago

Trowel sizes I used 15 years back vs what the crew runs now

Back in 2008 on a big slab in Phoenix we all carried 36x4s and thought that was the only way to get a good finish. Last week I subbed with a crew in Tucson and everyone was running 48s and magnetics, they looked at me like I had two heads. You find yourself fighting the old habits or do you just switch over and keep up?

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willowr96•25d ago

Bought a $400 power trowel blade set, went back to my old ones after one pour in Tulsa

The new blades left ridges no matter how I adjusted the pitch, and my float pan did cleaner work in half the time, so what's the actual benefit of these premium sets for anyone else?

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violag80•25d ago

Thought those fancy epoxy flakes were a gimmick, but a garage floor in Phoenix changed my mind

I had a customer in Phoenix who insisted on the multicolor flake system over my advice to just do a solid gray, and after watching it hide every single tire mark and oil stain for the past 8 months without a single complaint, I'm starting to think I've been missing out on something real, so has anyone else switched over and found it's actually easier to sell than plain broom finish?

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charles720•28d ago

A fire marshal's comment about our slab made me rethink everything

Last week in Columbus, a fire inspector walked our new warehouse pour and asked why we didn't leave a 3 inch gap around the column footings. He said trapped moisture there turns into spalling in about 5 years, and code now flags it in a lot of the newer builds. I've placed a thousand slabs and never once considered that detail. Has anyone else had an inspector point out something that made you change your standard practice?

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wright.leo•1mo ago

Lost a whole day to a bad batch of accelerator last Tuesday

We were pouring a 40 yard slab over by the old mill off Route 9, and the accelerator from the supplier was junk. Set up way too fast in the chute, we had to bust out three loads before noon and the crew was cussing me out by 2. Had to call the supplier for a rush replacement, but we still finished 4 hours late and the customer was pacing in his truck the whole time. Anyone else had a batch that just went sideways on them and how do you test it before you let it hit the forms?

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sean_barnes24•1mo ago

That old foreman's advice about wet cuts finally made sense

My first boss back in 2009 always yelled at me to keep the saw blade wet on every cut, said dry cutting was for guys who liked dust masks and cracked slabs. Blew him off for years until I took a job in Phoenix last summer and the heat made a 40-foot control joint spiderweb in two hours. Anyone else get burned by ignoring the old-timers on something simple like that?

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tessaperry•1mo ago

The guy who eyeballs his expansion joints is out of his mind

I walked a driveway job last Tuesday in Tucson where the finisher laid expansion joints by eye, no chalk line, no measuring. He was off by almost 2 inches on a 14 foot stretch, and now the control joints look like a snake crawled through the slab. We had to grind and re-cut the whole thing, cost the homeowner an extra $600 in labor. How many of you still see guys skipping the string line on long pours, and what do you do when you're stuck fixing their mess?

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taylor957•1mo ago

That old timer in Wichita told me to splash water before bull floating, I thought it was a joke

He said it keeps the cream from sticking and after I tried it on a 90 degree driveway pour last month the finish came out way smoother, has anyone else messed around with wetting the surface first or was that just his weird habit?

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brookeellis•1mo ago

The 3/4 inch hose trick that saved my slab in Phoenix heat

Last July I was pouring a 30x40 garage and the sun was cooking it so fast I couldn't keep up with the bull float. I grabbed a spare 3/4 inch garden hose, laid it flat on the wet concrete, and ran water through it at a trickle to cool the surface before finishing. It evened out the set time perfectly and I got a smoother finish than any chemical retarder I've used. Has anyone else rigged up a similar water setup on a scorcher of a day?

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the_sean•1mo ago

That stupid expansion joint repair that ate my whole Saturday

Got called to fix a busted expansion joint on a warehouse floor in Akron. Figured it'd be a quick 2 hour job, pop out the old filler and pour new stuff in. Turns out the previous guy used some kind of super rigid epoxy that had bonded with the concrete on both sides. Took me 4 hours with a grinder and chisel just to get the old crap out, then another 2 to patch it right. Anybody else run into mystery filler that just wont budge?

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amyh12•1mo ago

Ran into an old timer at a job site in Des Moines last Tuesday

I was out on a commercial slab pour near the airport and this retired finisher just stopped to watch. He pointed at my power trowel and laughed, said back in '82 they did everything by hand with just a bull float and a couple of fresnos. I thought about that for a second. The concrete was the same mix we're using today but the finish was different. He told me crews would spend 45 minutes hand troweling a single area to get that mirror finish. Made me realize how much we rely on machines now. Have you ever had to hand finish a big pour without any power tools to see if you still got the touch?

2 comments