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An old boss told me my broom finish looked like a cat scratched it up | Concrete Finishers - Vivisector

An old boss told me my broom finish looked like a cat scratched it up

This was maybe ten years back on a small driveway job in Tacoma. I was pretty new and thought I had the broom technique down, just dragging it straight across. My boss, this guy named Carl who'd been finishing since the 70s, walked over, looked at my section, and said, 'Kid, that looks like a cat got loose on it. You're just making lines, not texture.' He showed me how to hold the broom at a slight angle and use a light, jiggling motion as I pulled back, almost like you're shaking out a rug. It wasn't about making marks, it was about pulling the cream up just enough to get a consistent, gritty surface that wouldn't be slick. Changed my whole approach. I still think about that every time I grab a broom now. Anyone else get a piece of advice that totally flipped how you do a basic finish?

4 comments

4 Comments

green.iris6mo ago

Heard a guy call that jiggling move the "seizure pull" once.

emma4556mo ago

My buddy was always getting yelled at for his bull float work leaving too many ridges. An old timer finally grabbed his arm and said, "Stop pushing it like a lawnmower." He made him slow way down and let the float's weight do the work, just guiding it with a super light touch. Said it was like smoothing frosting, not spreading it. My friend said it felt wrong at first, but the difference on the slab was night and day.

rowan_reed685mo ago

We had a guy on a pour last summer, maybe like @craig.viola saw, who was just death-gripping the handle. The finisher told him to hold it like it was a baby bird he didn't want to crush. I mean, the guy actually made him practice the motion over a finished slab with no concrete, just air. It looked stupid but it worked. He finally got that you're not pulling the cream, you're just letting the tool find it.

craig.viola6mo ago

Man that's so true. Saw a kid fresh on the crew fighting a mag float the same way, just muscling it around. The foreman told him to stop trying to steer it and just let it drift. Called it "ghost hands." Once he stopped forcing it, the cream just came up perfect. It's all in that float just kissing the surface.