Every finisher I know swears by power trowels, but hand troweling my neighbor's patio in Phoenix last month came out way flatter.

I got burnt on a power trowel 3 years ago when it left swirls on a garage floor I couldn't fix, so I'm sticking with hands and a mag float for small jobs - anyone else think power tools get overhyped for residential work?

2 comments

2 Comments

dixon.daniel11d ago

Yeah, "overhyped for small jobs" is exactly right. Power trowels are great for big flat pours where you need speed, but for a patio or a garage floor they're basically asking for trouble. The swirls you got are a common problem if you don't have perfect technique and the right timing. For residential work, hand troweling gives you way more control and you can actually see what you're doing. I've seen too many guys try to save time with a power trowel and end up with a wavy mess they can't fix. Stick with the hand tools, you're not missing out.

oliver24211d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I mean, a few swirls on a patio slab that's gonna get walked on and weathered anyway, nobody's gonna notice a year from now. Plus, @dixon.daniel, I've seen plenty of hand-troweled jobs that ended up looking worse from bad timing or just rushing through it.