Debate: Should you trowel wetter concrete for a smoother finish or let it firm up more? I saw a crew doing it both ways on a driveway in Austin last Tuesday.

3 comments

3 Comments

Haven't you ever noticed that wetter concrete tends to bleed more water to the surface, making it weaker and more likely to dust off later? That crew might have been asking for future cracks by not letting it firm up enough before troweling.

simonreed24d ago

That bleeding thing is rough, my neighbor's driveway looks like a dust bowl now.

rowan_thomas21d ago

Watching that bleeding happen just makes you feel bad for the homeowner who's gonna be stuck with that dust for years. I live near a new development where they poured a big slab wet last spring and now every time a car drives over it there's a little cloud behind it like a cartoon dust buggy. Feels like the crew was just trying to get out of there faster instead of doing it right the first time. Hope your neighbor's driveway doesn't end up the same way.