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Blew out a whole 40x60 slab pour because my screed man walked off at 7am
Had a pour scheduled in Amarillo 3 weeks back, 40x60 shop slab, 6 inch thick with rebar, and my screed guy just up and left at 7am when the first truck was still backing in. Said he wasn't getting paid enough to work with the new guy on the vibrator, so he grabbed his tools and drove off. I had 4 trucks coming and a finisher crew of 2, so I jumped on the screed board myself and tried to run the whole thing. We got it floated but by the time we hit the power trowel the middle section had already set up too hard and started tearing. Ended up with a rough patch about 12 feet square that I had to grind down and patch with a skim coat, and the GC still made me knock $800 off the invoice. Worst part is the owner saw the patch and now he's telling everybody I can't finish flatwork. Has anyone dealt with a key guy bailing mid-pour, and do you keep a backup screed man on call or just eat it?
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jenkins.reese9d ago
Something nobody ever talks about is how much that patch follows you around on future bids. The GC knocked off 800 that day but the real cost is he remembers it at bid time and the owner tells his buddy who tells another owner in town. Flatwork rep is fragile like that because people only see the finish. One bad pour and they forget the hundred good ones. A big part of your fix has to be getting ahead of the story before it spreads, not just eating the 800 and hoping it blows over. Call the GC, call the owner, tell them flat out what happened and that your screed guy walked. Most folks respect a straight answer way more than a quiet patch.
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