Screeding, floating and vibrating push coarse stone down and float a layer of paste and fines to the top, and finishers call that layer cream. Enough cream lets a trowel close the surface smooth; too little leaves rock showing and an open, rough finish, and too much makes a weak skin prone to crazing and dusting. Roller screeds and jitterbug tampers are sold on their ability to bring it up.
Rock's showing on that side, hit it with the bull float again and pull some cream up before you trowel.
Also heard as
- juice
- paste
Do not mix it up with
- Laitance: Laitance is the weak, chalky film left by excess bleeding; cream is the workable paste finishers want.
Related terms
Bull float
A wide flat float on a long handle, pushed across a fresh slab right after screeding to smooth and close it.
Laitance
The soft, chalky skin of fines that bleed water leaves on top of concrete, too weak to bond to.
Screed
To strike off fresh concrete to the right height, or the straightedge, board or machine that does it.
Floating
The finishing step that levels, compacts and opens the surface of a slab once the bleed water is gone.