Took on a last minute driveway pour in July and the concrete set before I could finish troweling

Had a customer in Austin call me Thursday night wanting a 30-yard slab by Saturday morning. I said yes without checking weather and the mix was too stiff by the time I got it placed, scrambled to rewet and work it but still had to grind down a rough patch yesterday. Anyone dealt with a client pushing a timeline that forced a bad pour?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.wren11h ago

Man that's a rough spot to be in, especially with a last minute pour like that. Nothing worse than watching concrete set up faster than you can work it, especially when the customer's breathing down your neck about timing. I had a similar deal once where the dispatcher didn't warn me about the hot mix and I ended up with a crappy finish I had to grind down too (it took forever). Austin heat is brutal for that, you know, it just cooks the moisture out before you even get a chance. Hope your client wasn't too harsh about the patch, some people just don't get the reality of working with concrete in July.

ward.diana6h ago

Preaching to the choir here. I jumped on a rush job for a parking lot overlay last August and the mix went from workable to popcorn in about 12 minutes, ended up with a rough mess I had to rub out with a magnesite patch. Customer was tapping his watch the whole time and I just wanted to tell him that concrete doesn't care about his deadline, but you gotta bite your tongue and fix it. Your grinding story sounds all too familiar, July is just a tough month to say yes to anything last minute in this heat.

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