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My screed guy quit on the pour morning and I finished 1,400 sq ft of flatwork with a rented power screed
Guy who's run my screed for three years up and quit the morning of a 1,400 sq ft driveway pour near Fort Worth. No text, no call, just didn't show. My two laborers are green as grass, and the concrete was already on the way. I had one shot and no backup plan. I grabbed a power screed from the rental yard down the road, never touched one in my life, and ran it myself because there was nobody else. First two passes were garbage, I buried the blade and pulled a washboard section that my finishing trowel caught right away. But around pass four I started feeling the grade, keeping the blade just kissing the mud, and it came out dead flat. We bull floated, edged, and broom finished all of it with 45 minutes to spare when the truck left. Honestly the power screed saved my butt, but I still don't know if I got lucky or if I should just buy one. Anyone else run a power screed on a pour this size, and how do you keep the blade from digging when the concrete's hot and stiff?
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charlie3711h ago
Man, nothing says commitment like learning a new tool on the fly with a full truck of mud already rolling up. That is a wild story, and honestly most guys would have just ate the loss and called it a day. The washboard on your first passes makes total sense too, because a power screed will punish you fast if the blade digs in. On the stiff and hot stuff, the trick is to keep the blade tipped up a hair and let the machine float more than cut, plus don't wait too long between passes or the mud sets up on you. You probably did get a little lucky, but you also kept your cool and read the grade by pass four, which is the real skill. As for buying one, I'd rent a few more times before dropping that kind of money.
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