A concrete float is a tool used to finish a concrete surface by making it smooth. A float is used after the surface has been made level using a screed. In addition to removing surface imperfections, floating will compact the concrete as preparation for further steps.
A float can be a small hand tool, a larger bull float with a long handle, or a power trowel (also called a power float) with an engine. Concrete floats are generally made of magnesium, aluminum, or wood.
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Float may refer to:
Grout is a dense fluid which is used to fill gaps or used as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, and sand and is employed in pressure grouting, embedding rebar in masonry walls, connecting sections of pre-cast concrete, filling voids, and sealing joints such as those between tiles. Common uses for grout in the household include filling in tiles of shower floors and kitchen tiles. It is often color tinted when it has to be kept visible and sometimes includes fine gravel when being used to fill large spaces. Unlike other structural pastes such as plaster or joint compound, correctly mixed and applied grout forms a water resistant seal.
A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel.
A jackhammer is a pneumatic or electro-mechanical tool that combines a hammer directly with a chisel. It was invented by William Mcreavy, who then sold the patent to Charles Brady King. Hand-held jackhammers are generally powered by compressed air, but some are also powered by electric motors. Larger jackhammers, such as rig-mounted hammers used on construction machinery, are usually hydraulically powered. Jackhammers are typically used to break up rock, pavement, and concrete.
Stamped concrete is concrete that is patterned and/or textured or embossed to resemble brick, slate, flagstone, stone, tile, wood, and various other patterns and textures. Stamped concrete is commonly used for patios, sidewalks, driveways, pool decks, and interior flooring. The ability of stamped concrete to resemble other building materials makes stamped concrete a less expensive alternative to using those other authentic materials such as stone, slate or brick.
Scabbling—also called scappling—is the process of reducing stone or concrete. In masonry, it refers to shaping a stone to a rough square by use of an axe or hammer. In Kent, rag-stone masons call this "knobbling". It was similarly used to shape grindstones.
Pressure washing or power washing is the use of high-pressure water spray to remove loose paint, mold, grime, dust, mud, chewing gum and dirt from surfaces and objects such as buildings, vehicles and concrete surfaces. The volume of a mechanical pressure washer is expressed in gallons or liters per minute, often designed into the pump and not variable. The pressure, expressed in pounds per square inch, pascals, or bar, is designed into the pump but can be varied by adjusting the unloader valve. Machines that produce pressures from 750 to 30,000 psi or more are available.
Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called pargeting. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering or rendering, has been used in building construction for centuries. For the art history of three-dimensional plaster, see stucco.
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in building construction for centuries.
A powder-actuated tool is a type of nail gun used in construction and manufacturing to join materials to hard substrates such as steel and concrete. Known as direct fastening, this technology is powered by a controlled explosion of a small chemical propellant charge, similar to the process that discharges a firearm.
A diamond tool is a cutting tool with diamond grains fixed on the functional parts of the tool via a bonding material or another method. As diamond is a superhard material, diamond tools have many advantages as compared with tools made with common abrasives such as corundum and silicon carbide.
A concrete finisher is a skilled tradesperson who works with concrete by placing, finishing, protecting and repairing concrete in engineering and construction projects. Concrete finishers are often responsible for setting the concrete forms, ensuring they have the correct depth and pitch. Concrete finishers place the concrete either directly from the concrete wagon chute, concrete pump, concrete skip or wheelbarrow. They spread the concrete using shovels and rakes, sometimes using a straightedge back and forth across the top of the forms to screed or level the freshly placed concrete. After levelling the concrete, they smooth the surface using either a hand trowel, a long handed bull float or by using powered floats. After the concrete has been leveled and floated, concrete finishers press an edger between the forms and the concrete to chamfer the edges so that they are less likely to chip.
Tuckpointing is a way of using two contrasting colours of mortar in the mortar joints of brickwork, with one colour matching the bricks themselves to give an artificial impression that very fine joints have been made. In some parts of the United States and Canada, some confusion may result as the term is often used interchangeably with pointing and repointing.
Screed has three meanings in building construction:
A glass cutter is a tool used to make a shallow score in one surface of a piece of glass that is to be broken in two pieces. The scoring makes a split in the surface of the glass which encourages the glass to break along the score.
A mooring in oceanography is a collection of devices connected to a wire and anchored on the sea floor. It is the Eulerian way of measuring ocean currents, since a mooring is stationary at a fixed location. In contrast to that, the Lagrangian way measures the motion of an oceanographic drifter, the Lagrangian drifter.
A tremie is a watertight pipe, usually of about 250mm inside diameter, with a conical hopper at its upper end above the water level. It may have a loose plug or a valve at the bottom end. A tremie is used to pour concrete underwater in a way that avoids washout of cement from the mix due to turbulent water contact with the concrete while it is flowing. This produces a more reliable strength of the product. Common applications include the following.
A power trowel is a piece of light construction equipment used by construction companies and contractors to apply a smooth finish to concrete slabs.
A concrete grinder can come in many configurations, the most common being a hand-held angle grinder, but it may be a specialized tool for countertops or worktops. There are also purpose-built floor grinders that are used for grinding and polishing marble, granite and concrete. Machines that grind concrete floors are usually made to handle much more stress and will have more power to drive the unit as concrete has a much higher sliding friction than marble or granite which is also worked wet, therefore with less friction. In fact some types of marble will spark when it is ground dry, causing deep damage to the marble surface.
Welding slag is a form of slag, or vitreous material produced as a byproduct of some arc welding processes, most specifically shielded metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, and flux-cored arc welding. Slag is formed when flux, the solid shielding material used in the welding process, melts in or on top of the weld zone. Slag is the solidified remaining flux after the weld area cools.
