Vent: Saw a crew using steel trowels on a broom finish patio last Tuesday

They spent 2 hours fighting it before calling me for help, said the surface kept tearing open on them. Has anyone else noticed new guys skipping the whole idea of matching tools to the job?

3 comments

3 Comments

william_torres22d ago

Last Tuesday I watched a guy grab a 16-inch magnesium from my truck and start slapping it on a wet slab like it was a butter knife. Tools have gotten so specialized now that nobody bothers teaching the basics anymore, it's like handing someone a socket set and asking them to fix the carburetor with it. Same thing happens at the hardware store with those combo packs that include every bit driver except the one you actually need for the screw you're staring at. People just grab whatever's cheapest or shiniest and wonder why the job turns into a wrestling match.

hunt.nora22d ago

Is it really that serious though? I get that watching someone use the wrong tool is annoying, but a magnesium float on a wet slab is just bad technique, not some sign that tool knowledge is dead. Everyone messes up a job now and then, including people who've been doing it for years. @william_torres, I bet you've grabbed the wrong wrench or misused a level once or twice too. Hardware store combos are dumb, but people learn from messing up, not from some ideal way of teaching basics. The guy probably just needed a float and grabbed the first one he saw, same as you grabbing a socket set without checking the sizes first.

ward.jamie20d ago

You ever grab a 16-pound sledge when you really needed a framing hammer, because that's what was closest to the door? Yeah, me too, last week I tried to use a pry bar as a chisel and spent an hour patching the drywall after I slipped. I feel you on the hardware store combos, I bought one of those twenty-dollar bit kits and ended up with thirteen sizes of Torx I'll never touch and zero Phillips heads that actually fit. People learn by screwing up, I learned to check my float type after I dragged a magnesium across a wet slab and left a finish that looked like a cat walked through it. The basics aren't dead, they're just hiding behind whatever tool is closest to your hand when you're in a hurry.