Old foreman in Phoenix told me my edges looked like garbage

I was finishing a big slab for a warehouse out in Phoenix last August. The foreman walks over and says "your edges look like garbage, you're pulling the float too early." I was pissed at first but he showed me to wait an extra 20 minutes and use a lighter touch. Now I check the bleed water before I even touch the edges. Anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from rushing?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_anthony1mo ago

Man that old timer saved you years of headache, I learned the same hard way on a hot slab in Tucson.

max_brown1mo ago

Learned my lesson on a wet deck in Portland. Was laying down tile and thought I knew better than the old guy next door who watched me for like 20 minutes before he said anything. He just walked over, pointed at my grout lines and said "you're gonna hate yourself in three months." He was right. Came back the next spring and half of it was cracked and popping up. Took me twice as long to tear it out and redo it the right way. Some guys really do have that wisdom you can't get from YouTube videos.

pat7811mo ago

Ngl, you're right about most of that but Portland's not exactly known for wet concrete decks. It rains there sure but the humidity is actually pretty moderate most of the year. The real killer in the PNW is the freeze-thaw cycles that mess with grout and mortar.