Smooth the base plate after casting

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Building a floor slab is a prerequisite in many projects. The production itself is not the problem if you are familiar with formwork and have a little manual skill. Smoothing is then a special task that makes increased demands.

A large base plate can be poured.
A large base plate can be poured. © Florian_Knapp / Pixelio

What you need:

  • a smooth peel bar
  • Vibrator
  • Peel board, trowel
  • A steady hand

The base plate must be level

  • No matter how thick a floor slab is, the surface determines whether the builder has done a good job. You should compact your floor slab as much as possible so that air bubbles can escape and the concrete completely fills all voids. It goes without saying that the formwork must be level on both levels.
  • An orbital sander is good for smaller objects; you can press it against the 4 sides of the formwork so that the flowable material starts to vibrate. If there is no other tool at hand, tap the formwork vigorously with a hammer every 50 cm. A larger floor slab should be compacted professionally with a borrowed vibrator.

Prepare the formwork well

  1. In order to get the floor slab nice and smooth, the top edge of the formwork must also be free of bumps. If necessary, plan the rough surface before concreting. Do not make the concrete too stiff, it must pour well and flow into all corners without help.
  2. Pour enough concrete into the formwork that there is a risk of something overflowing. After compacting, fill in the imperfections with a trowel of fresh material. Now start to distribute and remove the superfluous concrete with the peeling bar on one end.

Smoothing is the final step

  1. Always try to have a small bead of concrete in front of the rail. You pick up too much with the trowel. Keep moving the rail back and forth as you peel off the concrete. Then let it rest until the surface is no longer watery. Then the surface is "powdered" for smoothing, a veil of dry cement is spread evenly over the surface.
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  2. The cement immediately absorbs moisture and acts as a lubricant. Now take a long smoothing rail or a trowel, if possible made of stainless steel, and smooth it evenly over the surface without pressure, so that a shiny look is created. The more evenly you use the trowel when smoothing, the smoother the result will be.

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