Used to float concrete with a magnesium bull float every time... now I only use it when I need to

For years I thought you had to bull float every pour no matter what. Then a old timer at a job site in Tulsa told me to back off on it unless the mix is really wet or I'm fighting a closing surface. He said overworking it just brings too much cream up and causes crazing later. I tried skipping the float on a slab last summer and the finish came out way tighter. Now I only pull the mag out maybe half the time. Anybody else cut back on floating and get better results?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathana4817d ago

Man, you might be onto something here.

ben_nguyen17d ago

Wait, you mean I've been manhandling a mag float for the last ten years like it was the only tool that mattered, and some guy in Tulsa with a sunburned neck just casually drops the truth? That's basically a rite of passage in concrete. I did the same thing on a driveway last spring where the mix was a little stiff, skipped the float entirely, and the surface was actually smoother than when I'd beat it to death. Now I half expect my old foreman to show up and slap the float out of my hand for "getting lazy.