Overheard a homeowner say the slab was 'self leveling' and I almost choked

Last week I was finishing a 400 sq ft patio in Phoenix and this guy walks over, looks at my screed, and tells his buddy "dont worry, that stuff levels itself out." I stopped mid stroke and just stared at him for a second. Took everything I had not to laugh, but then I realized he genuinely believed the concrete would just settle flat on its own. I ended up explaining the whole bull float and edge work thing for 10 minutes while my knees screamed at me. Has anyone else had a customer say something so wrong about our job that you just had to walk away for a sec?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_paul25d ago

And he probably thought the bull float was some kind of drink order.

margaretm2325d ago

Got a buddy who does commercial slabs and he told me about this one time he was pouring a loading dock. The client shows up mid-pour, points at the concrete, and asks if they can just leave it overnight and come back to it flat. My buddy thought he was joking. Nope, dead serious. He had to explain that concrete doesn't work like pancake batter, and then the guy wanted to know why they couldn't just use a really long level on it. My buddy said he just handed him the float and let him try to use it for a minute before taking it back.