My uncle, who's poured concrete for 40 years, told me he never uses a power trowel on garage floors. He said it makes the cream too slick and weak. I've always used one... now I'm second-guessing my whole process.

3 comments

3 Comments

Wait, hold on. That seems like a huge overreaction. If the floor was gonna fail, it would have happened already. Your uncle's way is one way, not the only way. Sounds like old school vs new school. I've seen plenty of power troweled floors that are just fine. Maybe he just doesn't like the tool.

aaron_mitchell2mo agoTop Commenter

Yeah, and that's the thing smith.parker, it's not just about the tool working or not. It's about this whole idea that if something hasn't broken yet, it never will. I see it all the time with houses and cars. People skip the basics because the quick way looks fine for a few years, then they're shocked when there's a bigger problem down the line. Maybe a power trowel is fine most of the time, but if your uncle's method is about getting the mix right first, isn't that the real foundation? Why risk the whole floor to save an hour?

cole_flores442mo ago

Has he ever said why he thinks that? I've used a power trowel on plenty of garage floors and they've held up fine for years.