The job site in Baton Rouge that made me ditch power floats

I was out at a big slab pour for a new warehouse off I-12 last month, trying to finish with a power float like I always do. This old timer with 40 years in the game just shook his head and said, 'son, you're chasing your tail with that thing.' He handed me a 10-foot magnesium bull float and told me to slow way down, and the slab came out flatter than anything I ever got with a machine. Has anyone else had an old school finisher change how they work?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarahhart1mo ago

Pretty sure a 10 foot magnesium bull float is gonna be closer to 8 feet, not 10. Either way, he's right about slowing down though.

hugow301mo ago

Wait, they're just straight up lying about the length now? I've seen some shady stuff in the concrete world but writing "10 foot" on something that's 8 feet is a new low. That's like selling a 5 gallon bucket that only holds 3 gallons. Are they hoping nobody pulls out a tape measure on the jobsite or what? And magnesium floats aren't exactly cheap either, so you're paying for space that just isn't there. Honestly it makes you wonder what else they're fudging on the specs.

paul_morgan26d ago

Totally agree, it's like false advertising plain and simple. I actually ran into this exact issue a few months ago on a commercial slab pour. Bought what was labeled a 10 foot float from a big box store, got it out on the fresh concrete and immediately knew something was off. Pulled out my tape measure and sure enough it was 8 foot 3 inches. Felt like a real idiot having to stop the whole crew and explain we needed to work differently because the tool was wrong. What really gets me is they could just call it an 8 footer and nobody would complain, but they pad the number to make it sound better on the shelf. Drives me crazy when suppliers pull stuff like that, especially on something as basic as a hand tool.