Shoutout to the foreman on that job in Spokane who told me to slow down

We were pouring a big warehouse slab, maybe 400 yards, and I was hustling like always. He pulled me aside and said, 'You're finishing too fast, you're trapping bleed water and that's why you're getting that dusting.' I always thought speed was key, but he was right. Anyone else had a simple tip that fixed a problem you didn't even know you had?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarahm181mo ago

Oh man, that's so true. I learned the hard way that if you're finishing while the concrete still looks wet and shiny, you're just pushing that water back down. Now I wait for that sheen to go away before I even touch it with the float. It feels wrong to stand there, but it makes a huge difference in the surface strength.

gavin_hill271mo ago

That shiny surface is basically a trap for new people. My cousin rushed his patio and ended up with dusting all summer. Patience feels weird but it's the whole game.

the_fiona1mo ago

Wait, you said 400 yards? That's a monster pour. And the foreman noticed one guy finishing too fast in all that chaos? How do you even see that when you're dealing with that much mud? That's some next level attention to detail.