Just realized a wet sponge can save a bad broom finish

I was finishing a small patio slab last weekend in my own backyard, about 300 square feet, and the broom I was using left these weird streaks that looked terrible. I was about to call it a loss and maybe grind it down later, but my dad who was helping said grab a damp sponge and lightly drag it over the worst spots before it sets. I thought he was crazy, but I tried it on a corner first and it actually smoothed out the streaks without messing up the texture. The trick is you gotta have the water wrung out mostly dry so it doesn't pool or wash the cream away. I ended up fixing the whole slab that way and it came out looking way better than my first pass. Has anyone else used a sponge to save a broom finish or am I just late to this trick?

1 comments

1 Comment

rowan_thomas1d ago

That "lightly drag it over" part is the key lol. I found out the hard way when I tried fixing a sidewalk edge with a sponge that was way too wet and ended up washing all the fines out of the surface. Looked like a muddy mess for a week. My buddy who does stamping for a living told me the trick is to keep a second bucket of plain water nearby to rinse the sponge every couple swipes, otherwise you're just pushing dirty water around. Saved my bacon on a stamped patio last summer that I'd messed up the texture on.