Everyone says wait for the bleed water to go away, but a finisher in Cheyenne showed me why that's not always right
This old finisher named Ray who I worked with on a big warehouse slab in Cheyenne about 6 months ago gave me advice that went against everything I'd been doing. He said to stop sweating the bleed water so much on a hot windy day and just start finishing earlier than I was comfortable with. I pushed back hard because my whole career I'd been taught to wait until that sheen disappears before touching it with a float. Ray said the wind was pulling moisture out so fast that by the time the sheen vanished, the surface would already be too stiff to work properly. I watched him start floating about 40 minutes earlier than I would have and the cream came up perfect, no tearing, no crusting. We finished that 12,000 square foot pour with zero issues and the GC actually commented on how clean the surface was. I've since tried his approach on two other jobs and honestly it's changed how I read a slab when conditions are drying it out fast. Has anyone else had an old timer tell them to ignore the bleed water rule in certain weather, and did it work out or bite you later?