Tried a power trowel on a small patio pour and it went way better than I thought

I usually hand finish small residential jobs but this 12x16 patio in Austin needed to be done quick before the heat set in. Rented a 36 inch power trowel from Sunbelt and ran it after the bull float and it flattened like butter. Cured up real smooth with no chatter marks. Anyone else use power trowels on tiny pads or is that overkill?

1 comments

1 Comment

masondixon3h ago

Call that a waste of money and time honestly. A 12x16 patio is barely bigger than a nice living room rug, you could've hand finished that whole thing in about the same time it took you to load that 36 inch trowel into your truck and rent it. Power trowels are for warehouse floors and big slabs where your knees give out, not for a pour you can reach across with a hand float. Plus you're adding fuel cost, rental fee, and the risk of gouging the concrete if you don't know what you're doing with it. You got lucky it came out clean but that tool doesn't belong on a job that small.