Met an old timer on a driveway pour last Tuesday who showed me a trick with a broom handle

He told me to drag a wet broom handle across the fresh concrete to check the hardness before floating, and it saved me from starting too early on a hot day. Anyone else got a weird hand-me-down tip that actually works better than the textbook way?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_anthony20d ago

Man that broom handle trick is solid! I had a similar thing happen with an old guy showing me the "heel test" on a garage floor we were pouring. He said just press your boot heel into the concrete near the edge, if it leaves a print about a quarter inch deep you're good to start finishing. I was always going by the clock before that and it messed me up more than once on hot days. Now I just use my boot and it's way more reliable than any chart or timer. Simple stuff like that just sticks with you.

alice_reed4720d ago

Your boot heel thing works but you gotta be careful with it on hot days cause that quarter inch window closes way faster than you think. My old timer taught me the same trick but he always said to check it on the slab itself not near the edge cause the edge sets up quicker from the form pulling moisture. I learned that one the hard way when I tested by the edge thought it was ready started finishing and ended up with a mess cause the middle was still too soft. Good rule of thumb though check it in a few different spots before you commit to it.