He said he'd rather teach a green kid with a good attitude than deal with some old pro who's stuck in his ways, and it got me thinking about how I approach training new guys on the crew, you guys ever had a total rookie surprise you?
Last month I was working on a driveway pour in Euclid, Ohio and the ready mix came out a bit stiff. The young guy on the crew kept dumping water in to make it easier to work, and by the end we had about a 10 by 20 foot slab that looked fine but felt soft. I checked with my moisture meter three days later and the surface was still wet in spots. We ended up having to seal it twice and the customer called back complaining about dusting. Now I tell every new guy that a dry mix is better than a weak one. Has anyone else had a pour go bad from too much water?
Been using the same old Stanley chalk line for 8 years. Dropped it in mud, ran over it with a buggy, it was beat up but still worked. Guy at the supply house told me to try one of those cheap red ones from Harbor Freight. Said they were fine for residential. First big pour I used it on, a 30 yard driveway in Akron, the line snapped halfway across the form. Ended up having to eyeball the control joint layout and it came out crooked. Took me an extra 45 minutes to fix it with a straight edge and a fresh line from my old Stanley. Has anyone else had bad luck with those off brand chalk lines or did I just get a dud?
Watched a crew pour a 4,000 sq ft slab downtown last week and nobody bothered to look at the joint spacing until after the truck showed up. Foreman just said "we'll cut it later" like that fixes everything. How many times have you seen control joints crack wrong because someone rushed the layout?
I was driving through Portland last weekend and took a detour past a hotel foundation we poured back in 2003. That job was a nightmare with the rebar schedule changes but man we finished that slab by hand with wooden floats and mags. Every crew now is using those resin composite floats and I get it they last longer but the feel is different. You can't get that same tight finish without the wood grain pulling just right on the cream. Has anyone else noticed the old tools just disappearing from vans or am I just getting old?
I was doing a salt finish on a patio in Austin last spring and an old timer named Pete watched me for like 2 minutes before he said 'kid you're burning that salt, it's melting before you even wash it'. Turns out I was waiting too long after the pour and the salt was dissolving into the concrete instead of just sitting on top. He made me wash it right then and he was totally right, the spots were way cleaner. Has anyone else gotten called out by an older guy and had to completely rethink their timing?
Was finishing a driveway in Phoenix last month and this older guy walks over and watches me for a min. He asks why I'm starting my broom strokes at the expansion joint instead of the edge. Told me I been pushing water and fines into the joints the whole time making them weak. I felt like such a idiot. He showed me his method starting at the forms and dragging towards the joint. Now my joints dont look like garbage anymore. Anybody else learn basic stuff way later than they should have?
Same mix specs, same crew, but the newer lot has spider cracks all over while the older one still looks solid. Did something change in the aggregate supply around here or are we rushing the cure time too much these days?
I grabbed those thin plastic sheeting rolls from the big box store instead of investing in proper insulated blankets for a 30-yard residential job in Phoenix. The edges curled up overnight in the wind and the slab dried way too fast on one side, leaving a mess of hairline cracks I had to grind out. Has anyone found a decent budget option for curing blankets that actually stay put in hot weather?
Harold from the yard told me to dump two pounds of fiber mesh into my residential driveway mix even though I was planning on wire mesh. I figured he knew his stuff so I did it, and now I got cracks spiderwebbing through the whole pour after three months. Did I mess up the mix ratios or is fiber mesh just not the right call for driveways in cold climates like Minnesota?
Been doing concrete work for about 4 years now and I always thought you had to get the surface as dry as possible before troweling. Last summer on a job in Austin the humidity was insane and I kept getting this crust forming no matter what I did. My buddy's dad who's been finishing since the 80s walked over and just dumped a bucket of water on the slab before I started. I thought he was messing with me honestly but he said I was fighting the surface drying out too fast. Sure enough that little bit of moisture let me work it way longer and the finish came out smooth with no crust. Turns out I was overworking dry concrete this whole time and making it worse. Has anyone else been doing it backwards like I was for years?
Been watching guys finish driveways around my area and they keep troweling the edges way too long. I did it myself for years until a buddy showed me you only get about 10-15 minutes before the edge starts to curl from overworking. Has anyone else noticed this or figured out a better system for timing it?
Last Tuesday, I was finishing a driveway in Akron when my handle got greasy, my trowel spun out, and I carved a perfect 3 inch star into the middle of the pour. Had to explain to the homeowner that his 'custom galaxy finish' was actually just me trying not to cry. Any of you ever turn a screw up into a design feature?
I was on a 15,000 square foot job last month in Kansas City watching a crew pour a floor for a new auto shop. They started floating too early and ended up with a rough, uneven surface that looked terrible after the broom finish. Does anyone have a solid rule of thumb for knowing exactly when the bleed water is gone so you don't jump the gun?
I was sure the air was dry enough to just let it cure on its own, but after it spiderwebbed on me I guess the 90 degree heat proved him right. Anybody else ever get burned by ignoring advice from the greybeards on site?
Had a fresh pour going and my margin trowel slipped right into the wet mix. Watched it sink like it was quicksand. Has anyone else had a tool just disappear on a job like that?
He was dead serious, said his grandpa taught him that trick on a 40-foot driveway outside Tulsa. Has anyone else heard of this or is that just a recipe for disaster?
Had a long talk with my wife last night after she saw me spraying a driveway I finished last week. She asked why I bother with wet curing for 7 days when everyone she knows just uses a spray-on sealer. I told her wet curing gives better strength and fewer cracks, but she pointed out that sealers save time and money upfront. Now I'm second guessing my approach. For a 400 sq ft residential slab, is the extra week of watering really worth it over a $40 can of sealer? Anyone else have strong feelings about this?
Ngl, I always grabbed the power trowel for big jobs but my buddy challenged me to do a whole garage slab with a hand float and magnesium finish. Took me 6 hours compared to usual 2 but the surface came out way flatter with no swirl marks. Anyone else ever ditch the machine and get better results by hand?
I thought I knew better and only did 3 days on a big driveway last summer. Cracks showed up in 2 months and I had to tear out a 10 foot section. He was right, that extra 4 days of wet burlap makes a huge difference. Anyone else skip the full cure and regret it?
Show up at a driveway pour in Bakersfield at 6am, unload the truck, and no bull float. Had to use a 2x4 wrapped in plastic for the first pass before a guy from the supply house brought a spare. Has anyone else made a drive-of-shame back to the shop for a forgotten tool?
I figured it would help with cracking in the heat but instead I was racing against the clock, has anyone else had magnesium throw your timing off that bad?
We started at 5 AM trying to beat the heat, but by 10 it was already brutal. The mix was setting up way faster than usual, maybe 20 minutes quicker than the specs said. We had three guys on the power trowel and two just spraying water to keep the surface workable. The foreman kept yelling to keep moving or we'd lose it. We finished the final pass just as the edges started to crust over. What's the hottest day you've ever had to pour on?
We were finishing a big patio slab in Spokane last Tuesday, and it was setting up way too quick in the sun. Someone on the crew said a little soap in the water would help the broom glide easier. We tried it, maybe a quarter cup in a five gallon bucket. The finish looked slick at first, but the next morning the surface was covered in these weird, shiny streaks that wouldn't come off. Learned that soap can mess with the surface cure and leave a residue. Anyone else run into this and know a better trick for hot day brooming?