Hit 10,000 square feet of stamped concrete in one week and changed my mind on power trowels

3 comments

3 Comments

I've been there with the power trowel debate. After about 5,000 feet on a big pour last summer I realized you really need to watch the concrete mix and timing. If it's too wet those things just bog down and leave washboard marks. A good bull float and some elbow grease with a hand trowel around the edges still beats a machine in tight spots.

tyler62d ago

Wait, didn't I read that power trowels can actually mess up the release on stamps?

walker.max1mo ago

Power trowels have their place but they're not the shortcut everyone thinks they are (especially on stamped work). You can't beat hand finishing for control of the pattern and avoiding that weird machine glare that kills the textured look. Pushed 8,000 feet of a rustic flagstone pattern last month and never once wished I had a machine spinning on top of it. The timing argument is fair but if you're on top of the mix from the start, hand tools give you way more forgiveness.