The job at the Johnson house in Oak Park taught me something about power trowels

Last month I poured a big patio and walkway for the Johnsons out in Oak Park. Beautiful day, good mix, everything looked perfect. But about 20 minutes into finishing I noticed the concrete was setting way faster than I expected. My power trowel was bogging down and leaving these ugly swirl marks. I kept fighting it, adding more water to the edges, making a mess. Finally I stopped, scraped the whole thing off with a rake, and started fresh with a slower mix. The homeowner watched me do $300 worth of concrete removal and asked if I knew what I was doing. I told him I was learning. That second pour came out glass smooth with just a hand float and a magnesium darby. My power trowel stays in the truck for small stuff now. Anybody else found that hand tools beat machines on certain size jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

daniel4742d ago

Scraped the whole thing off with a rake"? Man, I think I'd need a whole new bag of tools after watching three hundred bucks get peeled up like that. That takes some nerve to just start over in front of the owner.

hollyl452d ago

Wouldn't the owner be standing right there watching the whole thing go down too?