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I used to think power trowels were just for big crews until I tried one on a 400 sq ft garage floor
For years, I stuck with a hand trowel for everything under 1000 square feet, thinking a power trowel was overkill and a hassle for small jobs. My buddy in Phoenix kept telling me I was wasting time and energy. Last month, I had a single-car garage pour, about 400 square feet, and decided to rent a Whiteman walk-behind just to shut him up. I was sure it would be too aggressive and mess up the finish. Man, was I wrong. It cut my finishing time in half and gave me a way smoother, more even surface than I could get by hand, even on my knees. The control was fine enough to handle the edges without issue. Now I'm rethinking my whole approach to small slabs. For those of you who do a mix of big and small jobs, do you use a power trowel every time, or do you still draw a line somewhere?
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shah.olivia17d ago
Funny how the rental cost never gets mentioned... for a small job like that, the rental fee can eat up a good chunk of your profit if you don't plan for it. You gotta factor that in versus the time saved on your knees. Makes you really pick which small pours are worth the extra machine.
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emma52226d ago
Maybe for a garage floor, but on a small patio or walkway I still find a hand trowel gives me more control over the texture. The power trowel feels like overkill when you're working in a tight space.
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