Unpopular opinion: hand troweling is overrated for driveways now

I was dead set against power trowels for years, swore by a hand finish on every job in Columbus. Then I used a walk-behind on a 5-car slab last August and the flatness was just better, plain and simple. Any of you old-school guys make the switch or still doing it by hand?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_wilson6d ago

Have you actually compared a hand finished driveway to a power trowel on a hot day? I did a 4 car last July by hand and regretted every minute of it. The rain came in and we barely got it covered. Power trowels just save so much time and give a way more consistent finish across the whole slab. Hand work is fine for small pads or stepping stones but for driveways you're just making extra work for yourself. The flatness thing is real too, walk behinds don't have that low spot problem you get from kneeling in one spot too long. I still use a hand trowel for edges and detail work but the main slab gets the machine every time now.

bell.jessica6d ago

The walk behind pays for itself quick when you factor in not fighting rain or fixing low spots from kneeling too long.

kimdixon5d ago

My buddy Jake in Cleveland swore by hand troweling for like 15 years. He showed up to a big driveway job last summer with just his hand tools and the homeowner actually asked him if he knew what he was doing lmao. The pour took forever because they had to stop and let it set up more between passes and the finish ended up wavy in a few spots from him shifting his weight around. By the time he got home that night he was ordering a walk behind on Amazon lol. The rain thing is real too, he lost a pour last spring because he couldn't get it sealed fast enough by hand and the clouds rolled in. He's been using the machine ever since and says he gets better sleep now because his knees don't hurt all the time.