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Pour came out rough on a driveway last Tuesday but I fixed it
I was finishing a 12x30 driveway in Des Moines and the mix started setting way faster than I expected. The temp dropped quick and I couldn't keep up with the broom finish. Ended up with these deep groves that looked terrible. So I grabbed my magnesium float and went back over the whole thing while it was still green. That smoothed out the marks, then I used a light broom pass at the end. Came out flat with a nice consistent texture. Has anyone else dealt with a mix that goes off on you like that?
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caleb_thomas9314d ago
Whoa hold up, you're saying you went back with a mag float after the broom finish was already done? That's a little backwards from what I've always done. Usually you don't want to float it after you've already broomed it because you're just smoothing out the texture you just put in. Should've caught it while the concrete was still soft before the broom. The whole point of a mag float is to flatten the surface before you broom it, not after. If you're getting deep grooves, you're better off using a darby or a bull float to knock them down early, then wait for the water to burn off and do a clean broom pass. By floating it after the broom you're basically doing the work twice and might mess up the final look.
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Did you check if the supplier added any accelerant to the mix? I've seen that happen more times than I can count when they're trying to push trucks out faster in colder weather... it messes with your timing bad. Your fix sounds solid though, going back with the mag float while it's still green is pretty much the only move when you get caught off guard like that. How long did you wait before you did that second pass? I'm always worried about overworking it and bringing too much cream to the surface.
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oscarw8320d ago
Yeah man same thing happened to me last winter with a batch from a new supplier. They musta dumped some juice in there cause it set up in like 45 mins flat, threw my whole pour off. Did you wait til it was just past hitting or did you catch it earlier?
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