Power trowel vs hand finishing for driveways - which holds up better over time?

Here's the deal. Last spring I did two driveways in the same neighborhood over by Oak Street. One I finished with my trusty power trowel, the other I did by hand with a mag float. The hand finished one looked smoother at first but after this winter the power trowel one has way less cracking and scaling. The hand job has these tiny surface cracks everywhere now. But I've had old timers tell me hand finishing gives you better control and a denser surface if you know what you're doing. Three years ago I saw a crew power trowel a patio that looked like garbage after one season cause they got on it too early. So which way do yall think actually lasts longer? I'm about to bid on 6 driveways in a new subdivision and I gotta pick one method.

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_grant702d ago

Yeah that's a rough spot to be in... I feel for ya

zarag171d ago

Wait, for real? @evan_grant70, they just left him there? That's cold. I can't believe nobody even checked on him after that. Like, did they just walk away or what? Messed up.

mitchell.thomas15h ago

It's not just this one incident either. It's like a pattern I've noticed everywhere, you know? People see someone struggling or looking lost (falling down, car broken down, whatever) and they just sort of pretend they didn't see it. Everyone's too busy or too worried about getting involved, so they just keep walking. It's like we've all got blinders on for other people's problems until it's right in front of our face.