IamA (Concrete finisher/mason) AMA!

What's your worst experience of something getting stuck in concrete?

nothing typically ever gets in Concrete really. We go over it plenty of times to get a nice smooth finish. Though, the guys have played some pretty sick pranks. We take our work boots off and put on rubber concrete boots when working. One of the guys filled another guy's shoes with concrete and it sat there for a whole 8 hours and was rock hard! They were really old and worn so he wasnt that mad haha

http://imgur.com/LUcVfEd

Finishers nightmare.

YES

My main pumper told me he was on a foundation repair in a crawlspace once and the guys got his hose irretrievably stuck in the formwork and in the end had to cut off the end of the hose with a sawzall. They left it in the pour.

Use to have a pump operator who would lose his shit when things went wrong. Threw a big rock in the hopper and it plugged his hose. He lost it. Brought the rock out to us to show us what got stuck. We threw if back in a little later. Ha

Concrete finishers are such dicks.

Sounds tragic mate

Hi; spent many a day cleaning tools and troweling machine as Dad was laborer, then finisher on huge commercial for +40 years, but did small jobs on weekends. A master trowel-er, he could spot dips and level over tens or hundreds of yards and had this reputation. Old school, he taught me the necessity of boots, and the horror of going without them. A union guy, he is in great health at over 75 (a rarity) and the benefits give him a small comfort, but wonder, in today's world, what your thoughts are on unions?

My father taught me trade. He had been in the business 25+ years. Once they get to a certain point they can catch the smallest of mistakes a mile away. No union here, never been in one

What is the hardest part of working with concrete?

There are quite a few difficult and annoying things with the job. Sometimes the guys in charge don't want to pay for a laser leveler machine so we have to level out huge jobs by hand. By that I mean having one guy on each end of a 16' steel 2x4 and hauling back concrete to level it. The concrete is dry and hard so it's killer on your back, hamstrings, and most of all forearms.

So it's not all the concrete?

steel and wire is placed in Concrete for added support in certain areas where more weight will be held

Isn't it common place to set skreet pipes to ensure slab height

we do it with either a wooden stake hammered in with a nail at level or just use a level laser

Charge more for leveling it without the laser.

The big jefe pockets the money :(

Layout guy here for concrete job sites. The hardest part to be honest is dealing with the language barriers. I don't care who says what. When you can't understand Spanish and the finishers don't understand English. It tends to be a very stressful day.

Luckily I'm the foreman and I'm bilingual.

I wish I was bilingual, I work retail and its so frustrating not being able to help someone who doesn't speak English well or at all. I've learned a few words or phrases over the years, but so many dialects, slang, and speeds of people speaking Spanish I have a hard time.

I'm a fluent Spanish speaker. Raised in it and took on Spanish courses and college courses, but tbh some people have such a different dialect I can't even understand them sometimes. I have to resort to the 'nod and smile' and hope they weren't asking anything serious haha

I am about to make some concrete countertops. Do you have any advice?

honestly never done those but I'm assuming it's the same thing. just make sure your forms are nice and tight ! go back over it a few times with the trowel until your satisfied and afterwards add sealant and stain so it looks nice and glossy. dm me your DIY I'm interested in how it comes out!

I've heard that it's very important to get the air bubbles out. Use a vibrator if you have it (no, not that kind) or cut into the concrete with your trowel many many times once it's freshly poured.

Maybe somebody with more experience can comment.

we go over it several times with the trowel to finish Slabs by hand

I built myself one of those http://imgur.com/gallery/bWxDB93 Pretty happy with the result

Looks nice af bro

I want to put a 20x20ish concrete basketball court in my backyard. Wife is vehemently against it saying it'll ugly the yard. How can I pitch that this is a genius idea?

Doing one now as we speak! not done but I'll send a pic of the finished product maybe it'll change her mind hehe currently: http://m.imgur.com/h3N2uWY

Can you share the cost on something like this?

I gave him $2800 on the price

http://m.imgur.com/ng2aN2r

This may be tacky of me to ask here, but what does something like that cost?

we did it for him for $2800

Hi, I've got two questions:

1. What's the best way to keep concrete of a driveway/garage clean?

2. In a <2 year old home, is there a "normal" amount of cracking to be expected in the garage floor?

Thanks for doing this, your line of work is really interesting!

TL;DR a good pressure wash every so often will do the trick.

For freshly poured concrete a sealant is sprayed over the concrete leaving a shiny wax like finish. It makes it so that the concrete doesn't get dirty easily and to make it look nicer. You can spray sealer on your D.W. or garage after a good clean with pressure wash or you can just pressure wash the concrete every few months or so to keep it clean with out adding sealer. Typically D.W. have a concrete mix of 3000 PSI. Make sure not to wash it with insane pressure or you might blow the top layer off.

edit: question 2.. cracking is normal and happens all the time on slabs. It is not something to worry about. Steel runs across garages for support and the concrete will either have fiber in it or there will be wire in the within the concrete.

What exactly is the fiber? Is it the same material as the steel wiring?

serves the exact same purpose. it's added into the concrete mix.

I work with concrete too (formwork carpenter), and up here in Alberta we have a saying, "You can finish High School, or you can finish concrete". How true is that where you are?

Concrete is a good trade to get in, but is very physically demanding work. Guys here can make $1200 weekly if they learn the job inside and out and if work is in high demand. Sadly a lot of the guys I work with are immigrants and don't even have any education higher than elementary school. That's just how hard life is for them back in their country. They have to work from a young age 8yrs plus.

I just started doing land development design, and have a few questions:

1) Have you ever worked with sloping pads, and what were the inherent difficulties in laying an even foundation over a sloped pad

2) what are some things that us "pencil pushers" do that drive you CRAZY?

3) what are a few things that people on the design end can do to make your life easier?

yes and there is no real difficulty. we just get the tractor in and grade accordingly. We typically don't really have problems with anyone, but superintendants do drive us crazy when we finish forming up a slab or pad and they decide on changing the elevation or move the entire set up around after we have finished. To answer your 3rd question just let it be clear where you want the water to run and be clear on the plans :P

Haha that was the first thing that was instilled in me: MAKE PLANS READABLE. Glad it's appreciated on the other side and my incessant stress is worth it xD

THANK YOU😆 guys like you make the job that much easier.

I work as an Estimator and PM for a major contractor.

What do you think is the major thing that we as managers and estimators miss for the job site craft labor such as yourself?

we are ALWAYS short on steel for big jobs.

How do you math quotes/jobs? I can imagine it's something like square footage times something times cost of concrete times average labor time per square footage, etc. Or maybe I'm overthinking it.

every job is different. material (steel,wire,wood,concrete) + sqft ( varies by what is being poured slab vs basement vs parking lot vs sidewalk vs porch/patio vs curb)

What do you do if the forms break while or soon after pouring?

Been doing this for 10 years. Forms have never broken. we put wooden stakes in to the ground every 3-4 feet and we put a wooden brace on every stake to ensure it will not bend or curve and so that it stays exactly level.

You should give pointers to the dumbass morons at my site. I've seen dozens of times when the form fails and bends and whatnot. Even after standing there and giving them clear instructions. Even had to put an NCR for that shit.

I've seen other guys with bent form boards... looks terrible and makes it harder for the framers to do their job.

Where do you do this work? Question about foundation pouring, in Florida I have seen contractors that truck in a mountain of sand that they let sit for awhile before leveling and pouring the foundation, this seems not to be the most stable material for a foundation to sit on.. In fact, several of the vacation homes that I take care of were built in this matter and I often see cracks in the stucco along the brick edges. Is this a common procedure or cheap cutting of costs?

I work in Ga and in states around. I've worked in Florida a few times and have seen this practice been done. the sandy material is gone over with a machine to compact it and make it really tight. All foundation work has to have a city inspection so the tightness is checked to make sure it is stable. As for brickledge, it is tied with the footing of the slab. A footing is basically a trench going around the slab with rebar (steel) put inside to ensure stability. B.L. should be fine. There should only be a problem if there are foundation cracks, but inspections are really strict and the trenches along with the steel make for good support.

Every finisher I've know (family in construction) was a burn out. Worked their ass off by day and high as a kite after. They blew their money on drugs, tattoos, hookers, and gambling. Always broke and asking for an advance. Has this been your experience with your coworkers, and would you let you daughter marry a concrete finisher?

described a lot of the guys here i know. but a lot of them are also hard working guys who love and support their family and have never touched a drug or hurt a fly.

yes why not. I'm one my father was a lot of my god friends are

Lol. I've never seen it done in such a small scale. Paying two hands to push the pump arm up with picks.

You get what? Ten yards per truck? What's your biggest pour? Do you guys set and tie your own bar or do you employ iron workers? This looks rural; problem with cold seams? When you finish, do you have to grind down for looks or just finish the pour?

yes yes yes and yes ! we just finish the pour and finish the concrete till it's glass like smooth. 99% no grinding even necessary

Cool. I don't know what they're called, but do you use those machines that have two fan things that you drive with two sticks? They seem to be doing the finish on the surface of the slab.

we only use walk behind trowel machines not sit ons. idk why just how we happen to work but yes they're called trowel machines

OK, i've seen those as well, as well as guys troweling by hand in places the machines cant get to.

How do you get them on the slab? Are they liftable or do you use a machine. I always see tower cranes moving them.

we all get around it and with 4 guys we lift it from underneath and waddle to the slab.

How hard is it to keep the whole damned slab level? Almost every slab I've seen has one or two parts with a shitty dip or hump, or a shower a few inches off.

Source: am framer who is sick of shitty slabs

we set up strings across all sides of the house where we set up the form boards at the EXACT level and measurements. we make 200% that the form boards will not move anywhere so that it stays level. during the pour we level it out by hand with a straight edge steel 2x4

Another framer here, what about when the anchor bolts are totally outta line with the planned wall? Is it just a misread of the plan or something that happens when it's poured?

most likely misread off plan. sorry doesn't typically happen ever with us :(

What is the craziest work story you have? And what is the best prank you pull on your co-workers?

Recently had concrete guys from Pennsylvanian come to my factory job in Iowa and tear out and pour a shit ton of concrete. Some areas were 20" deep. It was really interesting watching them and I asked one of the guys what his craziest story was and he said they were doing a federal job and found bones....Next day FBI kicked them off the property and told them they weren't needed anymore.

Nothing that crazy or extreme just lots of funny moments like falling straight into a pier filled with concrete so the guy came out head to toe covered in the mix lol

Nothing that crazy or extreme just lots of funny moments like falling straight into a pier filled with concrete so the guy came out head to toe covered in the mix lol

What state/area do you work?... Here in OK we have a lot of expansive clay soil, so many here use post-tension slabs. Do you have any thoughts on these? We're about to build a house, and the builder uses a post-tension slab. I'm not crazy about the idea, but he says they have good luck with it.

Edit: just read you work in and around GA

GA and we do a lot of this work. and yes it is good. Bad support from the ground with no support elsewhere and you'll have concrete submerging and breaking over time

Does a slab always need plastic wrap underlayment? And what's a rule of thumb of using rebar if you don't have an engineered plan for a small residential project. Thanks!

yes we always do. except for driveways. and just always lay them on top of steel chairs and keep them always 2 inches from the form board on both ends ALWAYS

Are you legal and is your crew legal?

Yes and no

Hi, I have 2 questions for you. 1. I want to build a shed in my backyard that will be like a room, because where I live if it's less than 200 sqft the overall amount of permits I need goes way down. Would you recommend a concrete slab for this or dissing up like a crawlspace area and adding hardwood? If concrete, in general, how much would you say that 200sqft of concrete costs? 2. I don't know a lot about concrete or really building things in general, but is rebar always uses in building a foundation? Just kinda curious.

Well imo slabs are far better. They're more stable and last forever. There needs to be footing around the perimeter of the slab and steel chairs laying in the footings to lift up the rebar in the footing. footings are typically 20 inches tall from the top of the form board by 16inches wide. 6 yards of concrete fire slab and footing. about $100 a yard. some companies may charge a lot (additional $200+) for small orders

Only slabs? I see your main work is mostly residential, ever do any footings or structural concrete pours? What about municipal stuff like sidewalks or patching?

All of the above sir

I'm working on a designing a Concrete Masonry Unit wall. I have tons of experience with concrete and steel design but very little for CMU. What do you do for odd shaped door and window openings? Can you cut the blocks to make it work? Ideally I guess it would be like Lego, every opening spaced at a multiple of the block size.

yes they can be cut

Do you have any experience doing special effects on concrete? For example, making it look like stucco or making statuary. I've been wanting to try it, so wondering how hard it is to do.

we've only done stamping which makes it look like brick work (very nice) and colored concrete :)

How do you feel about concrete sinks /countertops?

they look sick man

Just bought a house and planning heavy use of concrete (raw and polished, for feature walls, flooring etc) throughout the house to give it a somewhat industrial feel. What should I be careful of? What surprises may I encounter, and finally what are your thoughts on finer cement panels? Thanks!

make sure it is sealed and finished correctly. i think it looks fucking awesome on a house man and congrats on the house!

Soon to be homeowner here. House I am buying has a pole barn with no flooring... was used as a horse training area. My dream is to turn it into a home gym which will require putting in a floor. Is it even possible to get a slab out in under the existing structure? If it is possible is it crazy expensive?

it is possible. you just need to order a pump. the kind that runs from a machine and has a flexible rubber pump tubing used in indoor areas. same price as a regular pour just have to pay the additional amount for the pump

I have done two or three pole barns just using chutes and wheel barrels. Lot of work but saves on a pump truck.

Most slabs are poured after the pole barn is erected. Afaik. The last one we did we bull floated and used a power trowel for the finish. Saves on the knees.

Goddamn man! Must be a hell of a beating with wheel barrows. That's how we poured the big patio we did today haha i think it was 20x25

Why is no one vibrating that concrete? Also, the pump guy needs to position that pump a little better next time.

it's not necessary for a small jobs like this where , aside from the footings the concrete is only 4 inches thick. on the edges we do hammer the form boards to let it sink in nicely though.

Do you tie tour own bar at all?

yes every single one every single time.

Have you considered getting a bigger pump?

we don't own pumps. we get a company out there varying in size pump depending on job

Any advise on getting into bricklaying? There are several projects I would like to do but none are "beginner " projects. Just keep it level or is there more to it?

keep it level. make sure the mix is appropriate and have a good foundation/ ledge

Is staining as easy to fuck up as I'm told?

YES

How do you feel about the lack of skilled labour in America? Both presidential candidates want to improve infrastructure but the work force is 40% baby boomers and the trades are not seen as a viable career as much by young folks. How can we get young people to want to do skilled jobs?

Honestly, this job is pretty harsh. It takes up all of your time. Especially from my end. Picking up guys and driving to work is 3 hours commute a day. plus the 12 hour work day 6days a week. This job is also extremely physically demanding and stressful. This field of work isn't for everybody. Higher education is key to a better job and trust me there are many better jobs than this one, but right now this is what I'm doing to finish paying my education and to help my family.

I got a tour through Rudus safety park last summer and according to the things i learned about working with concrete I'd say that the proof-picture shows total neglience towards safety excluding the hardhats and boots. What's the worst that has happened in your construction sites?

oh god safety rules are important don't get me wrong but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get the job done or your ass is on the line and you're out of a job

If I have stamped concrete i want to patch can i use concrete on top of it?

Will concrete adhere to new concrete? Is it possible to break up a section and redo the top?

There is a specific kind in powder form you mix with water. just a coating over so yes!

Have you ever gotten any contracts or jobs from the mob?

no sadly i imagine they pay handsomely

Always 1/10th of a yard left over.

nope only a piece of gravel left going down the shoot

What's the largest pouring you've done?

20,000 yards in a day with a group of 13 guys

20,000?! What for? A dam?

several apartment slabs side by side it's sqft btw

What is the best way to cure concrete to maximize strength? Interlocked rebar or steel mesh to reinforce driveway pavement?

we use both always! mesh throughout slab and rebar/steel in grade beams and footings

Is there a way of using concrete to make a drive (e.g. area in front of a house, usually used for off-street parking) that doesn't look cheap and nasty?

of course. it'll just be poured, gone over with a trowel and float once it is hard enough and then broomed. finally picture frame with an edger and joint.

Have you ever used one of the riding smoothers? If so, what is that like?

never have just use bull floats :(

What's the one thing about concrete that the new guys on the job always mess up?

we usually put them to haul back the concrete with the rake. they never hold it right and always pull with just their back.

What's your funniest/most ridiculous concrete job story?

saw a concrete pump ( the fucking huge ones that go 200ft in the air) tip over and destroy a basement wall

What the hell is in those crockpots you guys bring for lunch? It smells like the inside of a horses asshole and wreaks havoc on the Porto Pot!

hell if we know lol we always go to the Mexican restaurants or we are so busy we don't get a chance to eat all day

Hi, what's the best resource you can recommend for somebody who wants to learn the trade?

all training is on job. just go under the wing of the foreman.

What do you think the best solution for concrete leveling? Part of my driveway has sunk a little and I got a quote for raising the concrete by injecting foam underneath.

I've never heard of injecting foam. we just saw cut the bad or all of it and replace it. best solution imo

What's the biggest pour quantity wise you've done in one day?

20,000 sqft

How do those huge hoses you use to pour, pump concrete several stories into the air?

through a several long rotating belts

I find that so many contractors are dishonest and cut corners. Any advice on getting honest fair pricing on a job?

do your research on the price of material and what exactly you need for your job. sometimes unnecessary work is done on small jobs

If you're still here I have a question.

I am going to put a ups/generator for my home next to my box. I need a foundation for it to sit on. I'm sure you've seen these before. it's a huge battery and generator that runs on gas, oil, fuel in case power goes out.

My question is something that small should be fine for a DIY. anything in particular I need to be aware of other than typical?

if it's a 3x3 you can do it with bags. if it's bigger it will be a HUGE pain in the ass to do by bag. order a load from a plant if it's bigget.

Hello sir, would you be able to build your own concrete house (with help from friends and architects, but with no one that knows too much about concrete)?

Depends on the size. A decent sized one no.

Is concrete life?

It is indeed so my friend.

My lord, four guys on the hose??? My advice; work smarter not harder. Have the operator lay the hose down and just like sex put it in fast and then draaag it out.

It reached out as far as it could (200ft) and couldn't go any lower. Rather do that than break our backs hauling dry ass concrete with the rake. We only did it to reach out as far as possible.

When you see people do concrete themselves (non-professionals), like on r/DIY, for example, what mistakes do you see people make that, as a professional, bothers you?

I dont see many patios or sidewalks just molding or countertops/ tables. They look pretty decent tbh

So you work with concrete, huh?

Just a tad bit :P