Finishing concrete with a trowel takes practice and skill. The secret to getting a good finish on concrete with a trowel is time. Once the concrete has been initially placed and flattened with a bit of trowel work, give the new concrete a little time to begin to set up. Allowing this initial set up, or hardening of the concrete, to begin gives the concrete just a bit of stiffness by absorbing more of that water used in the mix.
If you attempt to trowel concrete smooth as soon as it is placed, excess water will be drawn to the surface which can compromise the finished top layer. There is no set amount of time to wait for the concrete to stiffen a bit because there are many different factors that contribute to how fast or slow concrete might harden (like temperature, wind and sun exposure). The slight stiffening of the concrete makes it easier to get a smoother, better finish with a trowel.
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28 сен 2024