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TIL a magnesium float beats a steel trowel on that first pass when the sun is beating down
Pouring a 12 by 20 slab in Phoenix last Tuesday with the temp pushing 108 by 10am, and my usual steel trowel was sealing the surface way too fast. My partner handed me his magnesium float and said just give it a shot, and the difference was night and day, the cream stayed workable and we got a way cleaner finish with zero crazing. I have been finishing for 9 years and always reached for steel out of habit, but that mag float bought us at least 15 extra minutes before the edge started setting up. Anybody else switch their first pass based on heat, or do you just stick with one tool no matter what?
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miles94614d ago
Learned that same lesson the hard way on a driveway pour in Tucson last summer, probably 106 in the shade and no shade anywhere. Steel just burned the surface and we ended up with a crusty mess while the mud underneath was still soft. Now I keep the mag float on the first pass whenever it's over 95, then switch to steel once the bleed water is gone and it stiffens up. Costs nothing to try it and saves a whole lot of cussing.
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