Old foreman in Detroit told me my float work was lazy, he was right

Been finishing slabs for 8 years and thought my bull float pass was fine until this old timer watched me on a 40 yard pour last month. He said I was dragging too much and not letting the cream come up, so I started tilting the float more and pulling shorter strokes. Now the surface trowels out way smoother and I'm wondering if I've been doing this wrong the whole time, anyone else get called out like that and fix their technique?

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1 Comment

schmidt.grace1mo ago

Man, that hit home for me. I got the same talk from a guy in Cleveland about five years ago and it changed everything. I was doing the same thing, dragging the float way too flat and long, thinking I was saving time. He made me do a few passes with just the front edge and way shorter pulls, and I felt like an idiot when I saw the difference. The cream just blooms right up and the finish is night and day. I still catch myself slipping back into old habits when I'm rushing, but now I always stop and think about that old guy. Sounds like you got a free lesson that's worth more than a full course.