To understand the value of this machine, you have to see where it fits into the broader timeline of a concrete pour. Flatwork is a highly choreographed sequence. First comes the subgrade preparation and vapor barrier, followed by placing the rebar or wire mesh on chairs. When the concrete trucks arrive, the laborers use concrete rakes (come-alongs) to drag the heavy mud roughly into place.
This is the moment the vibratory screed steps onto the stage. The screed operator follows immediately behind the rakers. His job is the crucial transition phase: turning the rough, mountainous piles of wet concrete into a flat, consolidated, monolithic slab. He sets the final elevation.
The moment the power screed passes, the window for moving large volumes of material is over. Everything that follows—the bull floating to seal the surface, the hand-edging, and eventually the deployment of the heavy walk-behind or ride-on power trowels—relies completely on the screed operator having done his job perfectly. If the screed leaves a massive dip, the power trowel cannot fix it later; the trowel blades will simply bridge over the dip, leaving an unpolished birdbath in the middle of your floor. The screed is the absolute foundation of the finishing process.
