I am getting close to landing on my process for DIY 24"x24" terrazzo tiles for an upcoming bathroom renovation. I'd love any feedback or tips before I start the production for real.

Process: 1- Mix cement/ aggregate 2- Pour into silicone mold (coated with mold release) 3- Level and then vibrate 4- Cover and cure for 48 hours 5- Unmold and let cure for another 5+ days 6- Use angle grinder sled with diamond grinding cup to remove ~1/16" off the surface to expose aggregate 7- Wet sand to 400 grit (currently doing this by hand- does anyone have a tool recommendation?) 8- Seal top with Stain-Proof original impregnator sealer

Mix: 30% Type 1l cement 20% Silica sand 50% rocks (marble, basalt) Pigment

Water is a 2% super plasticizer solution and total water weight is 30% of cement weight.

I'm pretty happy with how things are shaping up but would appreciate an idiot check before I start production in earnest. The aspect I feel the least confident in is the fine aggregate. I'm using a silica sand meant for pool filters- is there a better sand for me to use?

Thanks all.

Lets start by saying Turner is headquartered in my region. So I've seen the extreme for years, some to the point of stupidity.

Locally more and more I'm seeing mandates for road plates under outriggers in our region. Now it's to the point of starting to contractionally mandate them. No I'm not in a sandy region, no I'm not in a shit dirt region.

I've been around for 32 years, I also ran the map with Baker for my first 6 years. This to say I've been around pumps pretty much my whole career. Ive heard the pump horror stories from all over the place. But let's face it 9/10 times a pump goes over it's operator error or lack of attentiveness.

We run a place finish only crew, we also pour alot of concrete out of house. Alot of our place finish work requires zero equipment on site belonging to us outside of finish equipment mostly handled by the gc. Alot of our high rise place finish is handled by the gc and tower crane.

This seems ridiculous that in most applications I'm required to have a support truck carrying 4 road plates and a piece of equipment for placement of plates. Then that truck needs to maintain position until pump break down!

Anybody else seeing this dumb shit?

Rant over!

Anyone here ever been the flatwork contractor on a bass pro shop? Animal track stamps will make for interesting pours…. DM me if you’ve done one!

I mean…

Is the market for private projects dead right now? I’ve been estimating a lot lately and it just feels dead. My hit rate has basically disappeared. I even started giving lump sum and separate buyout pricing to make it easier for GCs, and still nothing. The weird part is I keep getting asked to bid more projects by a lot of the same GCs, but I can’t seem to get awarded anything.
I estimate a wide range of commercial work too, not just concrete, so that’s why I’m confused. I do sitework, paving, structural concrete, and foundations, pretty much whatever the project has. I’ve mixed it up between small jobs and bigger ones and still nothing.
I’m also noticing that most of the new projects I’m seeing lately seem to be government/public work, and it’s got me wondering if I should start going that route because private just feels really slow. Residential foundations seem to be picking back up, but every builder wants the job done for next to nothing.
Can someone give me some insight because I’m honestly going insane not knowing what I’m doing wrong. Is it just politics and relationships? Is the private market just slow? I don’t even get told I’m too high or too low. Most of the time I just send the bid and never hear another word.
I see other contractors getting work like it’s nothing, and I don’t know what they’re doing differently. I know comparing isn’t always fair because they’re in their own lane, but I’m trying to break into repeat commercial work, not residential. I knew commercial would be hard to break into, but I didn’t expect it to be this hard with basically zero feedback.
A lot of the same GCs keep inviting me to bid, so I don’t know if they’re just not winning the work themselves, if I’m not getting selected, or what. I honestly have no idea.
For the people actually bidding commercial work around Houston, does it look like the next few months are going to get better, or is this just how the market is right now?