Stop overworking your concrete after troweling - here's why

I see guys at job sites here in Phoenix all the time going back over their finish an extra time just because they think it'll look smoother. Did a 2,500 square foot driveway last week with my crew and one new guy kept trying to burn the surface after we already got a cream. Told him to step back and let it set. Overworking it just brings up too much water and makes the top weak. It'll dust and crack way faster. How many of you have had to fix someone else's overworked slab?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kevin11d ago

Told my guy the same thing last month and we ended up saving a whole pour by stopping early.

bencampbell11d ago

210 degrees is the magic number for my setup, but I bet most guys are just winging it with a thermometer that's off by 8 degrees. Nobody ever checks their gear's calibration and that first pour can get wasted fast if the temp is wrong. If you really think about it, stopping early is just a bandaid for not dialing in the grind size first. A full pour that's too fine and bitter costs you more in waste than cutting it off early does. I swear half the people bragging about savings are just using the wrong beans for their machine anyway.