Switched from hand floats to a power trowel for flatwork and I'm not looking back

I was dead set on doing everything by hand for 12 years, but my buddy loaned me his for a 1,200 square foot driveway in Austin and I finished in 3 hours instead of 8. Has anyone else made the switch and found it messes with your finish control on the edges?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige_ellis591mo ago

My uncle runs a crew in Dallas that uses power trowels for everything and he always told me the trick is to stick with a smaller 24 inch blade for the first pass so you don't lose that hand finish feel on the edges. I tried it on a 800 square foot patio last month and it worked way better than I expected, kept the edges tight without that weird wobble you get from the big machines. The real issue nobody talks about is how the concrete mix has to be on point for a power trowel, if it's too wet you'll get those washboard marks that are a pain to fix. I messed up my first job with one because I didn't wait long enough for the bleed water to evaporate, ended up with a mess that took twice as long to grind down. Pay attention to the timing and keep a hand float nearby for the tricky spots and you'll be golden.

janab821mo ago

Oh man, that's the exact same thing that happened to me! I was stubborn with hand tools for way too long until I borrowed a power trowel for a garage slab and it blew my mind how fast it went. Your buddy's tip about the 24 inch blade makes a ton of sense, I jumped straight to a 36 inch on my first attempt and the edges looked like garbage. I actually keep a smaller hand float in my truck now for the perimeter work, it saves me so much headache. And you're totally right about the mix consistency, I learned that one the hard way on a job where the concrete was a little too soupy and I ended up chasing those washboard marks for an hour with a bull float. Timing is everything with these things for sure.