Warning: That quick patch bag mix can bubble up if you skip the primer

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?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_robin24d agoMost Upvoted

Funny how the little details always come back to bite you when you skip them.

bencampbell23d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, the "little details" part really got me. I used to skip double-checking my measurements before cutting wood for a small bookshelf project. Just eyeballed it since the numbers seemed close enough. Ended up with one shelf that was half an inch too short and had to shim the whole thing. Been a lot more careful since then, even for simple stuff. It's always the stuff you think doesn't matter that makes you redo the whole thing.