On 28 May 2007 21:06:45 -0700, wrote:

Last week, I had a contractor pour concrete in our backyard for a
backyard patio. The contractor came in one day with his crew, got
concrete mixing trucks, poured the concrete and left.

Now the patio looks good, but I see that he "broomed" it at the end,
so the patio is not "smooth". I had not expected this and I guess I
was hoping for a smooth finish (as in a garage floor). I assumed (I
guess naively) that the contractor would make it a smooth finish. Why
do I like a smooth finish? Well, I'm thinking since it is a patio,
sometimes we may want to wander on it barefoot :-) In the future, I
also want to stain it, and I'm thinking a smoother finish will look
better when it is stained.

He is going to come back next week... I have to pay him yet.

Is there anything I can ask him to make it smoother? Is it possible at
all? Is it very expensive? The concrete patio is about 16x30 sq.ft.


It's possible, and probably not too expensive, since it should involve
only a few hours work with a concrete planer, but I don't think
it's a good idea. It shouldn't be so rough that walking on it
barefoot is uncomfortable. At least, not after it wears a bit,
and too smooth a surface can be slippery.