I was on a driveway pour in Nashville yesterday and three of those plastic bar chairs snapped under the mesh before we even got the truck out. The whole thing sagged into the dirt and we had to pull the mesh up with hooks mid-pour - has anyone else had this happen with the cheap ones from big box stores?
This old timer next to me buying bags of portland cement just blurts out that concrete doesn't shrink, only the water evaporating makes it look smaller. I've been fighting with hairline cracks on flatwork for two years and now I'm wondering if my whole approach to curing is backwards. Anyone else ever had a random comment completely change how you prep a pour?
Had a garage slab pour last Thursday in Phoenix. Everything looked good until I noticed this hairline crack right where the truck dumped the first load. Thought it would just be a quick grind and patch job. Three hours later I was still chasing it with a grinder and having to re-mix the repair three times because it kept setting up too fast. Anyone else ever waste way too much time on a tiny mistake that should have taken 20 minutes?
For years I swore off color hardeners on residential driveways. I figured they were just an extra cost that homeowners would regret in a few years when the color started fading or getting patchy. Then last spring I did a job for a guy over in Maplewood who wanted a charcoal gray finish, he was insistent. I told him straight up I thought it was a waste of money but he had me do it anyway. We went with a brand called Butterfield and I followed the directions exactly, wet curing it with burlap for a full week. Eight months later and that driveway still looks even and solid, no weird spots or fading where the snow melted. I had to admit I was wrong about the whole thing. Has anyone else had a similar experience with something they were skeptical of turning out better than expected?
I was finishing a 12x16 patio when the sky just opened up out of nowhere, no warning. Had to rush and cover it with plastic sheeting but the surface got all pitted from the raindrops before I could get the tarp on. Anyone got a trick for fixing rain damage on a fresh pour without having to grind the whole thing down?
I went back and looked at photos from the job and the difference is night and day, anyone else start using fibers on residential flatwork?
Guy named Chuck, must have been 70, saw me loading up at the plant in Phoenix. He pointed at my mix and said ‘that’s gonna be a dog to finish.’ Asked how he knew. He tapped the drum and said he could hear the water was off by 2 gallons. Been listening to my loads ever since. Anyone else got a weird trick for checking slump on site?
I was reading the batch ticket on a pour last Tuesday in Portland and noticed the water varied a ton between sunny and rainy days. Has anyone else checked their tickets closely or is it just me?
I was finishing a patio job in Austin last month and kept getting small chips on my bullnose edges. Started wetting the concrete right before I ran the edger and it smoothed out perfect every time. Anyone else do this or got a better method?
I saw this sweet spray texture attachment at a supply house in Phoenix and thought it would save me hours on a stamped concrete job. Hooked it up, mixed the batch perfect, and aimed at my forms - but the pressure was way off and it shot a massive glob onto my neighbor's driveway instead of the pad. The nozzle clogged after 5 seconds and I spent like 45 minutes scraping dried concrete off her asphalt with a chisel. Anyone else fall for one of those sprayer attachments that just makes a bigger mess?
Used a wood float for years on residential driveways here in Tucson, but last week I borrowed a magnesium float from a buddy on a 40-yard pour. The finish came out way smoother with way less effort, and I didn't have to keep wetting the wood to stop it from dragging. Anyone else make the switch or still team wood?
I was grabbing bags of Quikrete yesterday morning and overheard this older finisher telling a newbie that nobody hand finishes floors anymore. He said his crew can do 10,000 square feet in a day with a power trowel and it looks better than anything done by hand. But I've been on jobs where power trowels left those little swirl marks that took forever to grind out, especially on colored concrete. Hand troweling gives you more control around edges and tight spots, no question. So is the old school hand method really just a waste of time now, or does it still have its place on certain pours? What do you guys think for something like a small patio versus a big warehouse slab?
Last summer we had a stretch of 95 degree days and I thought I knew what I was doing. I mixed up a batch for a small patio in Phoenix and by the time I got it screeded the whole thing was setting up like quickcrete. I had to work like crazy just to get a decent finish on it and even then there were these little crusty spots I couldn't smooth out. The homeowner came out and said "looks good from here" but I knew it wasn't right. My foreman later told me I should've used ice water in the mix and shaded the fresh pour with a tarp. Has anyone else had a hot day pour just go bad on them no matter how fast you move?
I went with the wet stamp on a driveway job in Phoenix last Tuesday because I thought it'd save time but now I'm looking at a cracked mess and wondering if the release agent would've held up better in that heat, anyone else deal with this?.
Been doing concrete work for 12 years and always swore by the broom finish for driveways. Thought the sponge finish was just for fancy patios that crack in the first winter. But I picked up a job in Palmer, Alaska for a guy who wanted a textured but smooth look on his garage floor. I read this article from the American Concrete Institute that said sponge finishes actually hold up better in freeze-thaw cycles if you get the timing right. Something about the surface tension and how the water evaporates. I did a test patch on a small area first and damned if it didn't come out cleaner than any broom job I've done. The homeowner was thrilled and now I'm wondering how many jobs I've missed out on. Has anyone else switched finishes later in their career and regretted not trying it sooner?
I used to start jointing right after I finished floating, thinking I was being efficient. Then a foreman on a big parking lot job in Phoenix stopped me and pointed out the edges were already crumbling from the pressure. He said you gotta wait until the bleed water is gone and the concrete firms up a bit, otherwise you're just tearing it. Now I wait 30-45 minutes depending on the temp and the joints come out clean every time. Has anyone else had that moment where you thought you knew the basics but someone older showed you a better way?
A guy named Earl watched me fight with a bullfloat on a driveway in Tucson last August. He came over and said "push with your hip, not your arms" and adjusted my stance. It leveled the concrete way smoother in half the passes. Has anyone else gotten a simple tip from a stranger that changed how you work?
Last month I was doing a small patch job on a driveway in Tulsa for an elderly lady named Mrs. Gable. She came out with a glass of lemonade and told me to slow down because she'd seen three other finishers come and go on her street. She said, "My son told me to just buy the bag mix at the hardware store, but I've watched you guys long enough to know you need to wet the old concrete first." I laughed it off and told her it's fine, I use a bonding agent on the edges. But then she pointed at a patch her neighbor had done two years ago that was already crumbling. That got me thinking. I went home that night and read the fine print on that bag mix and sure enough, it says right there to prime the surface or it'll trap air and bubble. I've been finishing concrete for 12 years and I never caught that detail. Has anyone else had a bag mix fail on them because they skipped that step?
Went to grab supplies in Phoenix last week. Some crew poured a sidewalk near the garden center. Broom finish looked like a cat walked across it. How do you mess up a straight line that bad?
Had a guy who's been pouring since the 80s tell me to keep my residential driveway wet for 10 full days. I thought that was overkill, most guys around here do maybe 5. But I tried it on a job in Austin last month, that heat was brutal. After 8 days I had zero surface cracking. A neighbor of the customer had theirs done the same week by another crew, no soak, and it's already got hairline stuff. Has anyone else gone long on wet curing and seen a real difference?
I was doing a 2,000 sq ft patio in Phoenix last month and decided to try a brand new power trowel blade set for $400 instead of my usual hand trowel finish. The powered blade gave me a way smoother surface way faster, but I messed up the edge control and had to fix a 4-foot section by hand anyway. Has anyone else found power trowels worth the money on small residential jobs, or do you stick to hand finishing for better control?
I always thought steel was the only way to go for a good finish. But last month on a job at that new strip mall off Route 9, I borrowed a buddy's magnesium trowel for a slab pour and it cut my work time by about 20%. The surface came out way smoother with less drag. Has anyone else made that switch and noticed a difference on warm days?
I was looking through billing records last week and found out my boss adds a 40% expedite fee to every single concrete pour, even when there's no rush. We do 15 to 20 jobs a month here in Phoenix and he's been doing this for at least 3 years. The customers think they're paying for fast service but we just schedule everything normal. I asked him about it and he said it's 'standard business practice.' Has anyone else seen this kind of markup in their shop?
After 12 years of always pushing my broom perpendicular to the curb I saw a job in Phoenix where the guy ran his lines at a 45 degree angle across a 3-car pour. Looked way better and hid the tire marks from the homeowner pulling in too early. Been doing it that way ever since on residential stuff. Anybody else try different angles or am I overthinking this?