Power Trowel

banctecbobn

Guys,
I can do a great job pouring concrete with a broom finish or finishing with a hand trowel but not with a power trowel. Just poured my garage floor this weekend and the finish is fair to poor. The sun was on part of the pour and the other was shaded. The concrete was setting up at different rates and I had problems getting the two to blend together. I ended up getting the sun soaked area too slick for my taste and the shaded area was okay. The big problem was blending the two together. Ended up with small waves and bumps between the two. This was only the second time using a power trowel as I'm sure everyone has already figured out. lol I messed with pitches and speeds without much luck. Can someone give me some pointers on when to start finishing and what pitches and speeds to use to get the different finishes?

Have a great day,
Bob

joasis

Best advice I can give you about concrete came from an old guy who poured mud for 60 years...he said "you work concrete when it's ready, not when you are ready". Wisdom to remember. I finished a garage floor for a buddy a few weeks ago, and the edges were setting fast..so I toss the machine on and flatten the pitch and away I go...throwing swirls all over......I made half lap passes across the floor...and then quit...3 beers later, hit it again and viola....magic...a nice finish. The biggest thing guys do wrong in finishing concrete is overworking the pour. The problem you have between shaded and sunlit is why I hate doing one...however, I try to wait til the last possible minute to get on the exposed area...a little more pitch..then flatten a little in the shade...then as it is really setting..get a water bottle and go to it....

banctecbobn

Thanks for the input,

I didn't use any water when finishing, is this where I made my mistake.

Have a great day,
Bob

joasis

Once you do the initial pass with a trowel (and there will be differing opinions on this), you can also lightly wet down the exposed area....to slow it down, and then work it with the shaded part....

One thing I know for sure about concrete, is I am no expert, and every big pour, I learn a new trick it seems like.

drebich

I have run into this problem quite often. When you are on the harder concrete, make a pass counter clockwise only halfway onto the wetter concrete but don't stop, just let the machine go all the way around untill you are back on the hard stuff. Then let it set a while and do it again. If you try to reverse direction, or go completely into the wet stuff you will just make a pond.