I switched from hand troweling to a power trowel and it changed my approach to finishing

For the last 15 years I always used a hand trowel for everything, even big driveway pours. But on a 30-yard slab last month in Billings, Montana, I decided to finally rent a power trowel with a float kit. That first pass was rough, I nearly dug a groove into the concrete. But after an hour I got the hang of it and finished that slab in under 4 hours instead of a full day. The surface came out flatter than I ever got by hand, no question about it. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has made the switch and stuck with it for residential work, or do you still prefer hand finishing for smaller jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.miles5d ago

Yeah the learning curve is brutal but once it clicks you can't go back. I did a 40 yard garage in Nebraska last summer and the power trowel made it so much flatter than my hand work ever was, even on the edges where I had to babysit it more. Are you still using the float kit for the first pass or did you switch to just panning it?

the_patricia5d ago

Borrowed a buddy's power trowel once and spent the first ten minutes chasing it around the driveway like a rodeo clown.