Just realized I was finishing joints way too wet, and a 71 year old finisher in Wichita spotted it in 10 seconds

Amy Kelly · 2026-10-11T12:40:03.267129+00:00

Last Tuesday I was on a 4,000 sq ft warehouse slab pour outside Wichita and an old finisher named Ray walked up while I was running the trowel. He watched me for maybe 10 seconds and asked how long I wait after the bleed water goes away. I said I start right when it disappears, and he just shook his head. He said the concrete is still too green then and I have been burning the surface and trapping water under it, which is why my edges kept tearing and I blamed the mix. He had me wait another 20 minutes and float again, and the finish came out way tighter with almost no patch work. Now I check with the back of my hand before I ever pull the trowel out. Anyone else get taught this the hard way, or was I the last guy on the crew who didn't know?

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Just realized I was finishing joints way too wet, and a 71 year old finisher in Wichita spotted it in 10 seconds | Concrete Finishers - Babble Community