Ha! My father designed and invented that styrafoam/rip cord / iron stake method of trench former. He was awarded the patent on it in '87 and used it to install drains at airports and gas stations, and sold it to Poly-Drain by '90 - made a darn good penny off of it too. I remember our first test prototype for that rip cord involved spraying the foam down with Pam cooking spray ha! Anyway, it was totally random to see it used here, but very cool to see it nonetheless.
Would love to see some videos on putting in forms and pinning the rebar to existing concrete. I used to do that work years ago and would love to see how another crew does it.
Not working as much this year with Rona and my boss being older but good to keep the memory fresh only been doing it a year or so. You would think he would have went right out to the driveway
@@MikeDayConcrete Another idea is to have the completed pics on your webpage so you do not have to edit these videos. 'Just an idea for a postscript method of showing "the rest of the story". Thank you so much for your excellent attention to detail and teaching the details.
Love your videos; been watching for over a year. Maybe the conditions in Maine are not appropriate, but I've never seen you do exposed aggregate. If you ever get an exposed aggregate job, please make a video.
I need so much help with forming curb and gutter I don’t know anything about flat work and now I’m in the position where I’m doing but frustrated that I don’t know what I’m doing
I'm horrible on concrete.....gotta bookmark this when I am ready for my apron. Why the need for foam under this apron? Should I coat my dowels and what is best for felt in between slab and apron?
Hey Mike. If the garage floor is on a frost wall, and you pin the apron into it, is there any danger of the apron heaving and cracking the floor? Thx again. Great vids.
Hey Mike, Do you ever answer anybody's questions here? I see a lot of good questions that would be very helpful to the people asking them as well as people like me, reading them for research purposes. Thanks for the great video.
Hey mike. Love the channel! Can you point me to a video discussing outdoor pads? I live in NH and I’d love a hard door yard for turning wrenches outside! Thank you. Rob
I always thought the brush lines would be opposite of how the water flows since it would be like a cross thread type traction. So for instance on this job, it seems like going lengthwise with the brush would be better traction.
the water flows off the slab better when broomed parallel to the slope. * doesn't matter in this case as there is a lot of pitch. but when you can't get good pitch one thing you can do to help water run off is broom parallel to the slope. the rule of thumb for traction is to generally to broom perpendicular to foot traffic. really what they did here was broom the direction that gave the cleanest finish, and was the easiest. which is a fine choice.
Mike . I'm laying concrete drive and yard here in Ireland. What is the best way to guage for expansion joints . It's 9m wide and 20m long I'm going to break it up into sections. It will 4.5m wide as that's the middle , ill leave 2% fall to the center for both sides and gulley will collect rain water x what length do I add expansion joints on longer length part. Tks
Question!!!! Garage pad with pony walls - monolithic pour vs walls first, then floor. - is there really any difference besides saving time and money on a monolithic pour for a garage pad with pony walls. I've been doing these for many years.
@@MikeDayConcrete Thanks. Many concrete contractors don't vibrate slab on grade which always concerns me. Is it your usual practised to vibrate slab on grade and if so why when many others don't?
Mike, I always notice concrete finishers edge then they broom then edge again. Why not just save time by brooming first then edging once? I'm sure you have some insight as to why they always edge twice!
You can just edge after you broom, but many times it is actually faster to edge it twice. The first edge is done when the cement is still soft so that you can fix any rough spots or holes in the edge easily. The finisher can just get some cream from anywhere in the slab to fill the holes and then float out any marks. The second time he runs the edger is optional, purely for the desired look. If you only edge after the broom you have only 2"(the edgers width) to get cream to fix any holes, and if the cement gets hard it can be a pain(and time consuming) to push the edger down and leave a nice clean edge.
You want to make sure you get a good edge in before the concrete gets too hard. The second time we edge is more to give it that picture frame look. The first time around is to clean up all the edges which may be hard to do if you wait till after brooming when the concrete is a bit more firm.
I put angle irons when the garage door closed down I got a 1-inch so the water doesn't blow up underneath the door 6 inch slab 12 ft the four-door 35 years well did rebar to the angle iron go Overkill butt overkill's better than under
What is the purpose of the styrofoam under the slab outside of the garage? What thickness and type of foam? The only times I've seen foam used underneath was either for geothermal or radiant floor heat. Just curious... Thanks for the videos and keep up the great work!
why would you say "stick around to see how we finish this " when all your going to do is broom it !!! I got the impression it was going to be something different !!
Like your videos. I find them very informative and oddly satisfying. Watching from Michigan.
Thanks Jason!
Skills for your future taught by some of the best of the best.
Mike & Company
Thanks!
Ha! My father designed and invented that styrafoam/rip cord / iron stake method of trench former. He was awarded the patent on it in '87 and used it to install drains at airports and gas stations, and sold it to Poly-Drain by '90 - made a darn good penny off of it too. I remember our first test prototype for that rip cord involved spraying the foam down with Pam cooking spray ha! Anyway, it was totally random to see it used here, but very cool to see it nonetheless.
Hi Mike, I’m located in central NewFoundland. I enjoy your videos, they have helped me a lot!
All about that next generation of concrete finishers
Nice video. thanks mike and crew.
Thank you!
Would love to see some videos on putting in forms and pinning the rebar to existing concrete. I used to do that work years ago and would love to see how another crew does it.
Thanks for the recommendation!
another great video would love to see you install the forms
Thank you!
Not working as much this year with Rona and my boss being older but good to keep the memory fresh only been doing it a year or so. You would think he would have went right out to the driveway
Love your channel retired commercial Concrete Finisher local 2 New Jersey
Nice work Mike. Might be nice to see completed pics in vids. Forms off and everything
I will try to start doing that! Thanks!
@@MikeDayConcrete Another idea is to have the completed pics on your webpage so you do not have to edit these videos. 'Just an idea for a postscript method of showing "the rest of the story". Thank you so much for your excellent attention to detail and teaching the details.
Nice video Mike. 🤟
Thanks!
Love your videos; been watching for over a year. Maybe the conditions in Maine are not appropriate, but I've never seen you do exposed aggregate. If you ever get an exposed aggregate job, please make a video.
Yea, that's not a popular finish here. I've done it before, but not in a while.
I need so much help with forming curb and gutter I don’t know anything about flat work and now I’m in the position where I’m doing but frustrated that I don’t know what I’m doing
I'm horrible on concrete.....gotta bookmark this when I am ready for my apron. Why the need for foam under this apron? Should I coat my dowels and what is best for felt in between slab and apron?
Hey Mike. If the garage floor is on a frost wall, and you pin the apron into it, is there any danger of the apron heaving and cracking the floor? Thx again. Great vids.
Hey Mike,
Do you ever answer anybody's questions here?
I see a lot of good questions that would be very helpful to the people asking them as well as people like me, reading them for research purposes.
Thanks for the great video.
Hey mike. Love the channel! Can you point me to a video discussing outdoor pads? I live in NH and I’d love a hard door yard for turning wrenches outside! Thank you. Rob
I always thought the brush lines would be opposite of how the water flows since it would be like a cross thread type traction. So for instance on this job, it seems like going lengthwise with the brush would be better traction.
the water flows off the slab better when broomed parallel to the slope. * doesn't matter in this case as there is a lot of pitch. but when you can't get good pitch one thing you can do to help water run off is broom parallel to the slope.
the rule of thumb for traction is to generally to broom perpendicular to foot traffic.
really what they did here was broom the direction that gave the cleanest finish, and was the easiest. which is a fine choice.
Mike . I'm laying concrete drive and yard here in Ireland. What is the best way to guage for expansion joints . It's 9m wide and 20m long I'm going to break it up into sections. It will 4.5m wide as that's the middle , ill leave 2% fall to the center for both sides and gulley will collect rain water x what length do I add expansion joints on longer length part. Tks
Question!!!! Garage pad with pony walls - monolithic pour vs walls first, then floor. - is there really any difference besides saving time and money on a monolithic pour for a garage pad with pony walls. I've been doing these for many years.
Just preference that's all. Walls first then floor tends to be a little more money because of more excavation and backfilling.
So you started off vibrating the one short side but nothing more. Why?
It got edited out
@@MikeDayConcrete Thanks. Many concrete contractors don't vibrate slab on grade which always concerns me. Is it your usual practised to vibrate slab on grade and if so why when many others don't?
Why did you put foam under an outside slab?
To help keep frost from getting under it. I live in Maine and the ground freezes, the styrofoam keeps the ground from freezing.
Did you edge the slab by the existing garage slab?
I did one the other day 🤟🏽💪🏽
Mike, I always notice concrete finishers edge then they broom then edge again. Why not just save time by brooming first then edging once? I'm sure you have some insight as to why they always edge twice!
You can just edge after you broom, but many times it is actually faster to edge it twice.
The first edge is done when the cement is still soft so that you can fix any rough spots or holes in the edge easily.
The finisher can just get some cream from anywhere in the slab to fill the holes and then float out any marks.
The second time he runs the edger is optional, purely for the desired look.
If you only edge after the broom you have only 2"(the edgers width) to get cream to fix any holes, and if the cement gets hard it can be a pain(and time consuming) to push the edger down and leave a nice clean edge.
You want to make sure you get a good edge in before the concrete gets too hard. The second time we edge is more to give it that picture frame look. The first time around is to clean up all the edges which may be hard to do if you wait till after brooming when the concrete is a bit more firm.
Thank you
I put angle irons when the garage door closed down I got a 1-inch so the water doesn't blow up underneath the door 6 inch slab 12 ft the four-door 35 years well did rebar to the angle iron go Overkill butt overkill's better than under
Hello Mike, i am interested in completing the training course you offer. Do you provide a completion certificate upon completion? Thanks!
Sorry, I don't have a certificate. But the course will teach you a lot.
What is the purpose of the styrofoam under the slab outside of the garage? What thickness and type of foam? The only times I've seen foam used underneath was either for geothermal or radiant floor heat. Just curious... Thanks for the videos and keep up the great work!
It's to help prevent frost from getting under the slab and heaving it in the winter.
Do you always pin to the garage slab? Driveways and aprons?
Not always. When I styrofoam under it I do. Much less likely to heave in the winter.
Hi Mike. So with an apron does that not need any frost wall to support it or does it just float? Thx again and nice work
Yea, it just floats. But hopefully never moves.
Why the styrofoam? It's outside?
The direction the broom finish travels does matter. It’s meant to give grip to the concrete. And the way you broomed is wrong
why would you say "stick around to see how we finish this " when all your going to do is broom it !!! I got the impression it was going to be something different !!
Maybe so that new viewers see how they broom it? I don't know
Brooming is a finishing technique some people like to see and learn about
"if it dries it DIES" so don't let it.