Had to choose between a power trowel and a hand finish on a big slab last week

I was working a 4000 square foot garage floor down in Eugene last Tuesday and the owner wanted that real smooth, almost polished look. My foreman was pushing me to just run the power trowel over it like we always do because it saves time and muscle. But I'd been looking at the weather and it was gonna hit 92 degrees that afternoon with low humidity, which meant the surface was going to set up fast. So I made the call to take the time and hand finish it with a magnesium float and a steel trowel instead. Yeah it took me and my guy almost an extra 4 hours but we didn't get any washboard ridges or burn marks that the power trowel can leave in a hot pour. Owner came out at the end and said it looked better than his kitchen counter, so that felt good. Any of you guys ever gone against your crew's recommendation on a finish and had it work out?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyclark23d ago

@noah_walker16 Same thing happened to me on a driveway in July.

noah_walker1623d ago

Ngl that's a pretty bold move for a 4000 square footer in 92 degree heat. I did something similar once on a patio pour where the sun was just cooking the surface and the power trowel was leaving these weird swirls, so I switched to a hand float halfway through. My guys looked at me like I was crazy but the finish turned out way better than if I'd just let the machine eat.