Had a talk with a retired finisher about spec mixes today

Ran into an old timer at the supply yard this morning and he spent 20 minutes explaining why his crew always added a handful of poly fibers to every slab. I've been skipping that step to save money but after hearing about a 60,000 square foot warehouse floor he did in Austin back in '89 that still has zero cracks I'm gonna start throwing them in. Anyone else ever had a simple tip from a veteran totally change how you work?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles2771mo ago

Bet that old timer had a few more stories to tell too, lol. Those poly fibers probably paid for themselves ten times over by now. Funny how the stuff we skip to save a buck ends up costing more in the long run. I'm half tempted to start tossing in fiber just so I can tell the crew it's how the pros did it back in '89.

gavincampbell1mo ago

Funny you mention telling the crew that because imagine the look on the safety guy's face if he saw you tossing a handful of poly fibers into the mixer while quoting some old school method from the 80s lol. Nobody ever talks about how those fibers actually help with the curing process in hot weather too, keeps the micro cracking down when the sun is beating down on fresh mud. Bet your crew would start respecting the "old timer" tricks real quick once they see how much less they're patching up the following summer.