Glossary
Concrete Finisher Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential concrete finisher terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key concrete finisher vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in concrete finisher training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Air entrainment
- Tiny air bubbles that help concrete resist freeze-thaw damage.
- Bleed water
- Water that rises to the surface of fresh concrete.
- Broom finish
- A textured, slip-resistant surface made with a broom.
- Bull float
- A large float that smooths and levels the surface after screeding.
- Control joint
- A groove or cut that controls where concrete cracks.
- Curing
- Keeping concrete moist and at the right temperature as it gains strength.
- Edger
- A tool that rounds slab edges.
- Forms
- Molds that hold concrete until it hardens.
- Hot load
- Concrete that is setting faster than expected.
- Power trowel
- A machine with rotating blades for finishing large slabs.
- Rebar
- Reinforcing steel bars placed in concrete.
- Screed
- A straight board or tool used to level fresh concrete.
- Slump
- A test of how fluid fresh concrete is.
- Stamped concrete
- Concrete imprinted with patterns to look like stone or brick.
- Troweling
- Smoothing and hardening the surface with a steel trowel.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Concrete Finisher practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Concrete Finisher training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.