Gave up my power trowel for a hand float on this patio job

I've been using a power trowel for flatwork for like 8 years, always swore by it. But last month in Austin I had this small 300 sq ft patio with tight corners and a tricky slope for drainage. The power trowel kept burning the edges and I was fighting it the whole time. My foreman handed me a magnesium hand float and said try this instead, stop fighting the slab. I switched mid-pour and honestly the control was way better, the finish came out smoother and I only had to redo one small section. Now I'm thinking about using the hand float more for anything under 500 sq ft. Has anyone else ditched power tools for hand finishing on smaller jobs?

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caseywest2mo ago

Bet you'll never touch that trowel on small jobs again, it's a whole different feel.

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