Old school concrete finishing vs modern methods at our shop

I learned from an old timer in Calgary back in 2005 who swore by wooden floats and a lot of elbow grease for smooth finishes. Now we use power trowels with plastic blades and get the same result in half the time. The question is whether we lost something by skipping the hand work. Does the final product actually hold up better one way or the other? Anyone else made this switch and noticed a difference in durability?

Hit 500 transmission flushes last week and I'm starting to think we're doing too many

Pro tip: PPG vs Sherwin-Williams clear coat on a Honda Accord in Atlanta last month

I had a 2018 Accord that needed a rear quarter repaint. Used Sherwin-Williams clear like I always do. Looked great until I buffed it and got a halo effect. Re-shot it with PPG DC4000 and the depth came out way better. No haze, no nonsense. Anyone else see a big difference between brands on dark metallics?

Can we talk about how preheating the air fryer ruins crispy coating on things?

A buddy who runs a food truck told me I was overthinking it by preheating every time. Tried his method of sticking stuff in cold and letting it heat up slowly. Night and day difference for breaded chicken thighs. The coating stays on instead of sliding off. Anyone else ditch the preheat and get better results?

Old school broom finish vs power trowel finally clicked for me

I have been finishing concrete for 22 years and I always swore by the old broom finish. Thought power trowels were for guys who could not handle a hand float. Then I did a 40 by 60 slab for a garage in Omaha last month. The homeowner wanted a smooth industrial look so I had no choice. I borrowed a ride on power trowel from a guy named Dave and ran it after the first set. The difference after 3 passes was night and day. No chatter marks, no uneven spots, and it saved me about 2 hours of hand work. Has anyone else switched from traditional methods to machines later in their career?

Bought a $28 mortar mixing paddle from Harbor Freight. Regretted it on job one.

Drop a cool grand on a tool and it sits in the drawer forever

I bought a $950 Mitutoyo CMM probe kit about two years ago thinking I'd use it for every job. Ran maybe 30 parts with it total, now it just collects dust because most of my work doesn't need that level of precision. Anyone else got a high-dollar piece of gear they barely touch?

Craziest week at the shop: saved a guy $1,200 with a $30 part

This guy rolled in with his 2015 Ram 1500, dealer quoted him a new transmission for $4,200. I found it was just a bad speed sensor, swapped it in 20 minutes. Has anyone else had a time where a simple fix saved someone from getting hosed?

Found a trick for stripping NM-B faster without nicking the copper

I was wrestling with a 12/2 Romex on a job in Raleigh last week and finally tried scoring the outer sheath with a utility knife at a shallow angle before pulling the inner wires free. Cut my stripping time per box down from about 45 seconds to 15. Anybody else got a go-to method for keeping the insulation intact?

Got phished by a fake FedEx text on Saturday

I was outside trimming hedges for a client in Naperville when I got a text saying my package needed re-routing. I clicked the link and put in my email and password before I realized the URL was off by one letter. My bank called me an hour later about a $200 charge at a Best Buy in Florida. I froze my card and changed every password I own, but man I felt dumb for falling for it. Has anyone else been hit by these shipping scams lately?