When To Start Finishing Concrete After Pouring (Troweling & Broom Finishes)
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- #FinishingConcrete #WhenToStart #MikeDayConcrete
When is the best time to start finishing concrete after the pour? That's the question I'm going to answer for you in this video.
I will show you a real job where we poured and finished a concrete slab and a broom finish concrete patio. I'll show you now to check the concrete so you know when to start finishing. I'll also talk about the time between pouring and starting the finishing process, how long to wait and what to look for when you start finishing.
If you want to learn how to finish concrete, knowing when to start is one of the most important skills to learn.
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Started on the concrete crew at 17, a few days out of high school.
Got my contractors license 5 years later. The most amazing thing happened when I quit at 42.
My back got better and I was no longer a cripple😆
Started my own concrete business this year, mainly doing stamped, but I have to say that I’ve learned more from you than my old boss. I even showed him the video explaining the water reducer and now he wants to give it a try. Thanks again from the little guys.
Best description of when to get on the slab I have ever seen! Thanks for sharing your experience with us do-it-yourselfers!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you Mike. Your videos gave me the confidence and knowledge to pour my own 20ft square slab just with the help of my wife and a neighbour. It’s not up to your standards of course but I’m very happy with how it turned out. Excellent stuff!
Thanks again from sunny Spain!
Mike, thank you for your videos. I’ve been in the industry for 22 years and I’ve just started my own concrete business recently in North Carolina. Your videos are very helpful in remembering some of the small details that we tend to over look sometimes.
Thanks Keith, let me know if there's anything specific I can help you with.
@@MikeDayConcrete You should make a check list. Something like a trouble shooting guide with questions and what to do if yes or no. You could make it available to your patreon supporters or have it for sale as a dowload on you web site. Talk a little about how humidity changes things as compared to just temperature.
Respect to Mike, not many people would share their inner knowledge and secrets of their trade, especially in today's selfish competitive world, big respect for your kindness and giving of knowledge, you know your stuff that's for sure, respect from Greece
I have done concrete maybe ten times. With a variety of people. Some foundations. Some slabs. Some stem walls. And out of all the people I’ve worked with nobody has been able to explain when to start finishing in a way that made sense to me. And nobody has ever even mentioned bleed water. Thank you for making these videos, you are a fantastic teacher. Tomorrow I’m pouring two 40x17ft slabs. I feel much more confident now then I did just fifteen minutes ago. I will have watched all your videos before tomorrow morning. Great job sir!
Hi Mike! im 28 y/o and just started my finishing apprenticeship. I really enjoy doing concrete but it's definitely not for the feint of heart. Thank you for your videos as I'm always learning something!
My dad and two brother's did crete,me,not so much!!! I like that you green saw it as soon as possible,we did also,same day!! I was told by civil engineers that sometimes,depending on weather and other conditions the crete has already started to crack within 24hours.Or I should say determined by itself where it's going to crack!! Yours is the first video to green saw that I have seen. Finally
Good to see the saw cutting near the end . I always used to see the pours and finished full slabs and wondered about the joints . Class job as alway
Most people suck at explaining things. Mike does not. Thanks for providing these videos Mike.
I really like your videos, I live in victorville ca and have about 2 acres
Of land, i just started building a skatepark on our property. I decided to look up concrete work on yt...and found your videos. Thanks for your channel.
I commend this man for sharing his experience and secrets to his trade, this is the nature of kindness, thanks from GREECE for some great tips ;)
It’s the experience working with the material on large pours that gets you. The visual and tactile interpretation of cement that only comes with years of handling and working on top of the stuff. I will say that demonstration was actually useful. Close ups, using your finger and explaining the visual cues of concrete was helpful. Cheers
This guy knows his shit! Very knowledgeable and very straight to the point. Over in NH doing foundations and flat work 💪🏻
Thanks Evan!
@@MikeDayConcrete how much cal per yard do you use for your flat work?
Also liquid or bags?
I liked watching him power troweling that was a good view and also having the camera right next to your hand as you pushed in to decide if it was ready to finish. COOL MAN!!!
Thank you!!
Finally a video with a timeline! I know the time will vary greatly with temp, humidity, sun, water, substrate, ect......but a general timeline is very helpful
Well explained. Thank you for the knowledge! Doing a little job... 13'x6' inside a garage and then a 12'x5' outside. I've poured footers for walls but this will be my first exposed concrete job. This makes me excited to get it going!!!
This is definitely a Chanel for beginners
Thank you!
Thank you for the knowledge
My pleasure
Thanks mike that was very helpful knowing the timing on when to start and finish. Please keep them coming. It is difficult to know when and how long the process will take place. I really appreciate your teaching. 🙏👍🙏
Glad I'm able to help!
Can you do a video on "bad" concrete, if there is such a thing? Such as, how to know if you have a bad batch of concrete.
I do foundation and very little flat work. You guys make it look real easy but it takes real skill to be good at flat work.
excellent details on the hardness for finishing. Dunno what the designer of that house was thinking though, hydronic heated slab monolithicly poured with an exterior porch slab? big heat loss there.
So gravity pulls the rocks down & the rocks displace the cream & the water up, it all makes a little more sense. Thanks!
Yes, it pushes the water up. You work up more cream by mag floating or power floating.
I’d like to pour in the 60s in the summer haha. We poured 38 yards today and ran a retarder in it. It was 80 when I woke up this morning south Louisiana heat!
Yea, our temps are much different than yours. Very few mornings are 80 when I get up at 430 am.
Mike Day Everything About Concrete yea but we don’t have the winters y’all have. It’s cold not no snow. It’s a wet nasty cold though.
Les wuns
Best finishing vid I’ve seen so far
Holy smokes im more than ready to pour a pad after watching this. Great video
This is amazing. Very helpful. Greets from Holland 🇱🇺
Incredible, that Luke seems like a hell of a guy!
Mike , this is Tom Fravala again. I watch your videos all the time. MY QUESTION TO YOU IS : is it possible to make a living just doing small concrete jobs? I’m talking a 1,000 square feet or less? Just feeling things out. God Bless and yes I watch you closely. I think your good
Nice job, I was surprised to see a house built on a slab in NE. My sister has a crawl space for her house but it was built on rock on the edge of a cliff. Take care
Thanks!
Thanks for posting this video with time/checks you did.
Mike, I have never really wanted to do concrete everyday, but if I had to, I’d want to work with you.
Besides just being in really good physical condition, that really is the biggest trick to finishing concrete -TIMING! Equally important to knowing when to start your finish, is knowing when to just leave it alone and let it do its thing. Leaving it alone is probably the hardest thing to resist, bcz of the apprehension of not wanting to let the concrete get away from you.
It’s actually even more complicated than that bcz when Luke first put the machine on the slab, it still looked a little wet. But thru experience you guys knew that 2 hrs had already passed and it was starting to get to a ‘now or never’ situation. And sure enough right after the float pass, it started going off.
At 11:30, is Darin just cleaning up the edge at a cpl spots, behind the saw cut, or is he putting something into it? If so, what?
Yes, timing is the Key.
Yes, the timing is really something most people don't understand about concrete. Hopefully these videos help some people understand that. Darin was putting in some small pieces of cardboard where we cross cut each joint. It helps strengthen that area when we cut through another joint and lessons the chance of the concrete fracturing there.
@@MikeDayConcrete Ah right, gotcha. I didn’t see the lines in the other direction.
Or you can always wet it with some water. If it's too dry, the sunnier it gets the faster is Gonna dry no matter what u do. A little water doesn't hurt, especially if you are in florida, lol
@@Southern612Same story here in az. Lots of guys like to throw water to help close it up. A misting is fine to help the surface stay hydrated but I always have to stay on guys not to finish it in. I only throw water in the most dire of circumstances where if i dont splash some water under the trowel it will leave an unacceptable blemish. Like dropping a tool and leaving a deep gouge in the surface (not that ive done that or anything). Typically at that point the concrete is about to be burnished anyway and a splash of water to help the trowel glide a bit probably wont hurt too much.
Most descriptive video about finishing concrete. Thanks for the info !
For a second there I thought bottom right hand corner was somebody’s cooler 🤣🤣🤣
Hey Mike if you see my cooler it’s in the corner
When ever you pour on foam or plastic and or both , the water only has one way to go and that’s through the top hence why there’s so much bleed water. When I pour on foam/ plastic I like to use water reducer.
Exelent job Mike 👍 you have the best crew 👏
Thank you!
concrete company brought it to site as a summer mix what 120 slump wouldn't use them again lolbut good job guys
Lovvvveee waiting for concrete to dry
Excellent really enjoyed this. You guys make it look easy...good skills.
Glad you enjoyed it
Great information Mike! It brings back memories from when I was involved in pouring my shop! I wish I would have had this info back then! We got anxious and started maybe a little early! It still looked good, but it was a covered shop floor. So I am guessing because it wasn’t direct sunlight.
Keep up the great job!!
Thank you!
Just wonderful job Mike.
Thank you!
You are awesome thank for your videos !!! You made my project look amazing !!!
Nice work.
Never tried zip stripe ?
Instead then cuting w the saw.
Just but them in when you pour and no cutting.
This was very helpful. I appreciate the video.
Mike great stuff . We did a Grage floor today it whet Bad! We waited to get on the floor with a power trowel after the float blades we went to the finish but we keep getting lumps like it was soft spots was that I went to a setting that was to sharp? Do you have any videos on the settings ? Everything went fine pouring,screed, bull float till the finish I saved it by rubbing for 3 hrs..please help tell me what I did wrong . I m thinking it’s like what degree pitch for float blades then what pitch should I start the finish blades . One other thing on the finish it was like fighting a pig all over the place ? Thanks MP. PS. You are helping the small guys thank you
Mike, Have you a tool review? Some of the tools I see you used are interesting.
I haven't done any tool review videos, but here is a page with the tools I like to use: www.theconcreteunderground.com/resources
Thanks
Did Mike do a bull float before he waited for the finishing? He mentions at 2:21 that the water comes to the top after the screed and bull float but I did not see any bull floating?
Oh nice this is gonna be a good one, Mike.
Thank you!
this was another fine addition to the channel ... great work and a ton of hard work too
Thank you!
Thats why they makes combination blades. Dont know why some people refuse to use combos
I've used combos plenty. That's why I don't use them now.
Hi I know you mainly do huge concrete slabs but on a weekend can you show how to properly pour a 2x2 Slab basically a big Paver with no cement truck just a few bags of cement with color 1 person job would be very helpful For small DIY projects lol .Thank you
I use a power trowel on a pole....weighs around 26 lbs we use it on the pours that timing or temps wont work for the walk behind trowel.
We also use a product called Day One it is a life saver.
Ever had a power trowel not startup? What did you do?
Why did you saw cut a house slab haven't seen that before only because it takes flooring? Normally we'll just saw cut commercial slabs out here in CA. And how come there isn't a 3"-4" lip for the porch from the house (even a covered porch)... just wondering? You and your crew are awesome really enjoy your videos and your knowledge!
Hey Mike, so even though you are doing a broom finish up front, you only used a mag float both times? You didn't do a steel trowel then broom finish?
No, we don't steel trowel our exterior concrete here in Maine. It could trap water or air under the surface, even on a broom finish. You can trowel it if you don't get freeze thaw seasons like we do.
Mike you should come to Fiji and do some pours with me. Concrete here goes off in about 5min!
Love to!
Great videos Mike! I learn something every time I watch.
Hey Mike, I see you on your skids mag'ing the broom finish portion of the pour. Why dont you use funny float, or a mag on poles? Seems heck a lot of less work
Fantastic video, thanks!!!
When do you put in your anchors for the bottom plate?
Also more crazy thoughts here , do you do any commercial work or city civil work , inlets, storm drains , culverts , headwalls , run off channels ? Any tips on storm inlet form up .. I’m a concrete structure carpenter, floating and flying tables for sky rises but looking into starting something small in the residential market . On your course how detail do you go into estimating? How detail is the stamp concrete module series ? Any quick form up tips for side forms , panel forms or columns ? What should one estimate for net profit the first year with a four to six man crew ? What would normal overhead be beside my living expenses working out of the truck ? What are my hourly rate burdens ? Is this all covered I your course? Any how you always provide great information and look forward to more .
In my Concrete Underground private site we can discuss all those questions in the forums.
Great vids!!!
Thanks!
So you insulate the sides but you don't put a thermal break between the heatrd section and the porch??
Very informative, thank you.
nice job boy's!!
Me and my dad were making a concrete footing for our house and we mixed ours in a wheel barrow. The stuff we mixed up was much more thicker than the stuff you use from the truck. I heard that if we added any more water to the concrete we mixed up it would make it much more weaker. So I am guessing there is something different in the concrete from the truck?
Everything is normally specified on the plans. Some concrete only needs to be a certain psi per code. They also make a superplasticizer that can be added that reduces the slump without reducing the strength.
Would you do a Job in Dover Foxcroft? I know it might be on the edge of your service area. Enjoy all your videos, Thanks.
Excellent
Mike, regarding concrete curing, I was told years ago that keeping a new pour damp for a week or two increased the strength of the concrete. Is that still true?
Yes Frank, wet curing is still the best method.
Mike Day Everything About Concrete Mike, you might do a video on how to do that some day. There must be new methods. Thanks
7 days wet.goal. less than 70 degrees for 7 days
Capo Construction Longer if in hotter climate or summer?
what was the slump on that pour? only time i had to wait anywhere near that long was on an indoor pour that was super wet.
About a 6 slump.
THANKS 😊 MAN 👍
You do multiple finish passes with the power trowel, is there something you look for to know it's time for the next pass, or do you go again after a certain amount of time?
How do you know when you're done?
It's all timing, and how hot or cold the weather is. There's no certain amount of time, it's different every day depending on the weather, sun, shade, mix design. When I go to do the 2nd pass, if I step on the concrete and leave a "wet looking" foot print I know I have to give it a little more time. I want my footprint to look a little wet and a little dry if that makes sense.
@@MikeDayConcrete "a little wet and a little dry" I don't have the experience for it to make sense yet, but I'll look for it on my DIY pour next week :)
No power trowel, I'll see what I can do with a steel hand trowel.
BTW I bet more DIYers like me would love a video of the finest finish you can get w/ hand tools. Close ups of the finish (from different angles) after each pass would be good reference. The shots of pushing your finger into the wet concrete in this vid were great! Thanks for the help!
Mike, I've read that some people finish with a bull float instead of finishing by hand or power trowelling. Is this possible?
Nice work Mike.. Question.. My Dad had a guy pour a garage floor and I noticed there were small alligatoring cracks throughout the surface. What did he do wrong so I don't make those mistakes? Thx again! Jeff
He didn't do anything wrong. That's just the surface drying at a much faster rate than underneath. It's not structural, just cosmetic. It happens to us to.
@@MikeDayConcrete would putting a drying agent or keeping it wet help?
We poured a slab once that did that. It was an elevated deck. Maybe 15th floor or something I forget. When we came in the next morning, there were hairline cracks all over the place. I’d never had a slab crack up like that, so I called the engineer just to be safe. He said go ahead and continue with the verticals and keep an eye on the cylinder breaks for any problem numbers. It was a post tension slab and after 3 days and getting sufficient strength numbers from the lab, we stressed the cables. The cracks completely disappeared. You couldn’t see a single one even if you knew there was one there before.
If your doing a small retaining wall or slab? Can you use a hand travel to smooth? Or do you need to have that big float with a long handle?
Man I wish you were in NJ... 👍
Thank you!
Mike, I am trying to start a business in concrete myself and I’m interested in what slump you usually pour at?
Most our flat work is a 6 but with a water reducer.
Just curious !!! How many square feet or yards and hour can a good season crew set, form and finish per hour ? Also what is a good stamp concrete mix design? 5 1/2 or 6 sack mix ? What size Aggregate? With Flyash or no straight cement ? Must be nice to put in 60 degree weather ... we pour concrete at 3am here in Phx it gets about 89-95 degrees in around 530ish and try to finish before the real heat comes in . Also just curious about estimating looking to start a small six concrete business with more on the residential side and stamping here in Phx or Texas with a years time . Any help will be great
How much you do per hour depends on the experience of each person on the crew. It's different for everyone. I use a 4000 psi 3/8 stone mix with micro-fiber for stamping. No fly ash, just straight cement. Join my Concrete Underground to learn more about starting your own business and estimating. www.theconcreteunderground.com/the-concrete-underground
I can tell you the most a 5 year experienced flat work, 24 years old concrete man can do. At this point I've poured and finished around 6 to 8 thousands of yards of mud and am at the top of my game. Helping a school buddy with a concrete driveway on his first house. Friday I set and grade 3 cars wide on a 2 car garage with front walk. Narrowing to 12 foot wide. Wire mesh and a tight 3 1/2 grade. Saturday morning 9 yard truck, 7:00 am, kick buddy out of my way. Hand cut control joints. By noon I had stripped forms and set second part out to road. Had another 8 yards at 1:30 poured and finished with a 1/2 yard call back. 6:30-7:00 forms stripped and barricaded end of drive. All hand finished with a light broom. Hard work for 2 cases of beer.
17 1/2 yards set, poured, finished, and stripped in about 12 hours essentially by 1 experienced young concrete guy. Was hard work but not extraordinarily so.
The bleed water is from the plastic
what are the expansion joints for? I've never seen them put in.
👍 love it
It's a 8, maybe it has super, we do yards and yards of state work they test everything, a 8 is ok most of our contractors pour on a 8, most state work is 3.5 to 4 slump, it barley will come out of the truck, super will bring it to a 6, but a 8" slump they will reject it. And 4" slump will work a finishers ass off. Btw if concrete dries before it cures it will be weak. Retarter will slow it down, I recommend it in 80 + deg weather.
Did you not trowel the patio piece? Looks like you just hit it with a float and broomed
Float twice here in Maine, freeze and thaw conditions here so no steel trowel on exterior concrete or you're asking for problems later
So when do you place the j bolts in?
Close ups of the finish would help
Do you have to water the concrete during the drying process?
Show more
We go to the pub comeback about 1 lol
Can i just come work for you mike lol!
A team.
You bring your camper to the job? 🙂
Hey Mike when I had my 26x30 shop floor poured my neighbor thought I was crazy for watering it down 4 to 5 times a day for a couple weeks after it was poured. It was hot out and I heard somewhere that if you hose it down it slows the drying process and makes it stronger. What do you think about this?
Drying too fast can weaken the finished product. I worked with an old timer that would put straw on the next day and have the owner wet it for a week in the summer. Applying cure and seal is a good idea too to help the hydration process.
You did right
Why the foam?
How much are you guys paying for concrete, normally?
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Don't u pour your finish floors half air? We never pour broomed exterior concrete with interior mix.
We did 5% air on all this. No problems here.
And when pouring on plastic when it snaps it all snaps at the same time pouring on plastic 101
What s
Up do you like to pour at?