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Tried hand troweling vs power trowel on a 500 sq ft garage slab

I'm working a residential garage in Phoenix, about 500 square feet, and I decided to hand finish the whole thing instead of using my power trowel. BIG mistake. My arm was dead by the second pass and the surface ended up with these little waves that I had to grind down. Next day I brought out the power trowel for a similar sized pad and it came out glass smooth in half the time. Any of you guys ever stubbornly do something the hard way for no good reason?
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3 Comments
briannguyen
Feel you on that @eva_rivera. Did the same thing last year on my own driveway and my back hated me for a week. Sometimes you just gotta learn the hard way even when you know better.
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webb.stella
Ughh that's so true! Last summer I decided to redo the flower bed along my fence line by hand cause I thought it'd be a nice little weekend project. Three days later and my knees were killing me, I couldn't even crouch down to pet my own dogs. The worst part was halfway through I realized I could've just rented a tiller for like 40 bucks but nope I had to prove to myself I could do it the old fashioned way. My neighbor kept watching me from his porch and finally came over with a beer and said "you know they make machines for that right?" Like yeah buddy I know, I just wanted to see if I still had it in me. Spoiler alert: I do not have it in me anymore.
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eva_rivera
eva_rivera2mo ago
Can't believe you did a whole 500 footer by hand, that's just crazy talk.
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