Is it worth power trowelling a garage floor

[joe90]

As I cannot find a contractor to lay my garage base (they are all very busy or don’t want to know). I think I will have to lay it myself with two strapping lads to do the hard work shifting it around. My last  garage floor was rough (don’t ask) and I want a proper flat sealed floor this time. My slab is only 24 sq m (6 x 4m). My question is is it worth hiring a power float (nearly £100) fir such a small area when I can hire a bull float for a lot less. Answers on a postcard………

[Canski]

In this case I would go for a power float. There is a knack to this though. 

[Nickfromwales]

What’s going in the garage?

[PeterW]

Don’t need a bull float -  At 4m you can get a roller striker which is much quicker and easier than both tamping bar and power float as it skims the top surface flat. 

[joe90]

14 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

What’s going in the garage?

Kit car and motorbike and all my spanner’s etc 

[ProDave]

I did mine with a bull float

[Dave Jones]

just done ours last week in the heat. Used a big blue from brandon hire, £30 for the weekend. Plan is to resin seal the floor to stop the dust.

[saveasteading]

8 hours ago, joe90 said:

is is it worth hiring a power float (nearly £100) 

No.

There are 2 kinds 

the turning blade which us the norm on big slabs. They take a lot of learning and strength and aren't much use round the perimeter.

Vibrating tamp. Yes this would work but again is a skill 

There are other ways too, nit much used in the UK (reverse turning roller)

 

 

NO, I would go old school. A hefty timber  tamp to level and consolidate. That leaves a ripple surface which is better on ramps. So to smooth it hire a bull float and do the edges with a hand float.

 

 

[joe90]

9 hours ago, PeterW said:

Don’t need a bull float -  At 4m you can get a roller striker which is much quicker and easier than both tamping bar and power float as it skims the top surface flat. 

Ooh, that’s a good bit of kit, I found one to hire locally but it’s 6m long and access is limited (and it’s over £100 to hire a day).

 

I did use a power float many years ago and got a good result, re the edging trowel, when I moved house recently I had a big clear out, sold and gave away lots of kit I didn’t think I would use again (including an edging trowel that belonged to my grandfather 🤣, still ordered another one on EBay…..)

[Gone West]

When I had my 9m x 3.5m concrete slab laid last year I had it floated with a bull float and it had a good finish.

[Bozza]

When I built my barn/garage/store, on a budget, I just mixed concrete in cement mixer and did a roughish pour.  Then finished the floor with no nonsense leveller from screwfix.  Came out ok actually pretty smooth and robust so far.  

[SteamyTea]

Is the idea of a bull float to barrow the concrete mix in, then, stand at one end, and push and pull the float over the mix?

If so, how important is the mix?

Are there mixes that are better than others i.e. additives? 

[ProDave]

22 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Is the idea of a bull float to barrow the concrete mix in, then, stand at one end, and push and pull the float over the mix?

If so, how important is the mix?

Are there mixes that are better than others i.e. additives? 

Tamp it level first.  Then push and pull the bull float.  You turn the handle slightly between the push and the pull so it is angled slightly so the float does not dig in.

 

It's a gradual process, for best finish you are pushing and pulling for quite a while.

[saveasteading]

The float is only for the surface finish.

Tamping consolidates the concrete and gets rid of excessive air and creates an approximately level surface.

 

The float then evens out the highs and lows a bit.

Then you leave the concrete alone to ' go off'. This can be an hour or 4 depending on conditions

Then when you float again it has a smooothing function.

 

You can use just a skip float for smoothing, but the bull float is a heavier beast and does more levelling than smoothing.

Not that I have handled either for more than a few minutes, and handed them back.

[SteamyTea]

14 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Tamping consolidates the concrete and gets rid of excessive air and creates an approximately level surface.

Can you use a wobbly bar, inside a tube, attached to a drill, to vibrate the air out.

[saveasteading]

Yes . Or hire exactly that,...a vibrating poker.

 

Or select a nice length of 2 x 2 and jiggle that about.

[Big Jimbo]

I have no idea why but i have just thought of @pocster. There is no way that even he, will have a vibrating tool, in the special cupboard, suitable for the purpose of laying a garage floor.

[Pocster]

9 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

I have no idea why but i have just thought of @pocster. There is no way that even he, will have a vibrating tool, in the special cupboard, suitable for the purpose of laying a garage floor.

 

[SteamyTea]

I was a bit short of cash a while back and my partner was desperate to help.

I suggested that going on the game would be an easy way to quickly get some cash.

Reluctantly they agreed, came home after the first evenings work with £100.50.

I asked who handed over the 50p.

 

"Everyone"

[Nickfromwales]

15 hours ago, saveasteading said:

NO, I would go old school. A hefty timber  tamp to level and consolidate. That leaves a ripple surface which is better on ramps. So to smooth it hire a bull float and do the edges with a hand float.

Old school will always give results. 

[SteamyTea]

27 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Old school will always give results. 

So true, if only I could buy an Austin Allegro.

 

[Nickfromwales]

8 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

So true, if only I could buy an Austin Allegro.

 

I was saying that 25 years ago, so I could pinch the 1750cc engine to drop into my 1275GT mini.

[joe90]

9 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

So true, if only I could buy an Austin Allegro.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266303175375?hash=item3e00e7facf:g:WdIAAOSwy~dkjwJq
 

you might change your mind after driving it all the way to visit your mum!!

[SteamyTea]

Just now, joe90 said:

you might change your mind after driving it all the way to visit your mum!!

I had one once, 1750HL.

Was dreadful.

Harsh suspension that somehow stopped the wheels gripping the road, accompanied with lots of banging and body shake.

The steering got heavier and heavier the more you turned the wheel.

The engine used almost as much oil as it did gasoline.

It had a 5 speed gearbox, quite a novelty back then, but all of them were hard and heavy to select, no fast and slick changes, ever.

And as this was a top of the range model, I wanted more than an MW or LW radio.

The seat fabric was that velour, in brown.

[joe90]

Sit rep, finally got some labour jacked up for Saturday to lay  the concrete but no suppliers will deliver on a Saturday unless I have a full truck load 🤯. Trying to arrange labour for a weekday. I am going to manually tamp with 2x4 then bull float, I can always trowel by hand any imperfections when nearly dry.

Edited June 27, 2023 by joe90