A broad steel blade, often 24 to 48 in long, on a pole handle, used after floating to smooth and tighten the surface where a finisher on kneeboards cannot easily reach. It closes small pinholes and trowel marks and is a staple of residential flatwork. Run too early, it seals bleed water under the surface and invites blistering.
Run the fresno across the middle once it'll take it, then we'll edge and joint before the broom.
Also heard as
- fresno trowel
- long-handled trowel
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.
Floating
The finishing step that levels, compacts and opens the surface of a slab once the bleed water is gone.
Broom finish
A textured surface made by dragging a broom across fresh concrete, giving slip resistance outdoors.
Blistering
Hollow bumps that form on a troweled slab when air or bleed water gets trapped under a sealed surface.