30 Concrete Construction Tools for Construction Sites

Once wet concrete starts to pour, you need to be prepared to move quickly. It is not a good idea to arrive at the job site only to find that a tool has been lost.

Here’s a list of 30 construction tools you might need on a concrete construction site from start to finish:

Construction Tools for Pouring Cement

1. Mixers Um, naturally, right? But whether you’re mixing in a truck, a portable mixer or a wheelbarrow, you want to be sure your concrete is thoroughly mixed for maximum strength and durability.
2. Wheelbarrows Ideal for transporting (or even mixing) small batches of concrete or tools on the job site.
3. Rubber Boots or Work Boots Concrete is stiff stuff, and wearing waterproof boots is the best way to get through it and prevent contact with your skin. It’s also easy to rinse your footwear after the concrete is down.
4. Gloves Many concrete mixes contain potentially caustic admixtures that can cause serious burns from extended contact with bare skin. Gloves can prevent the skin from being exposed to too many of these components and may even save some blisters.
5. Safety Glasses Standard on most job sites, wearing safety glasses is an important safety measure when drilling, grinding, power trowelling or sawing concrete.
6. Compactors If the site of the concrete slab is to be prepped with a sub-base of any type, a compactor helps settle the stone or aggregate into position.
7. Levels Both the sub-base and slab surface must be level. A laser level or long-line level will allow you to verify that the slab conforms to specifications before pouring.
8. Tape Measures Concrete forms and slab depth need the same “measure twice, pour once” verification as any other material on the job site. They are also useful for testing placement and mapping.
9. Moisture Retarders Moisture or vapor retarders are used to prevent water vapor from intruding on a finished concrete slab. They are usually placed under or below grade slabs.
10. Saws Reciprocating saws, circular saws or grinders can be necessary to cut rebar or forms on the job site. If a problem occurs under the slab, a portion must be removed.
11. Shovels Shovels help distribute concrete around the job site to fill in gaps left during the pouring process or for smaller applications. Square-ended shovels generally work better for concrete; rounded ones spread concrete unevenly.
12. Rakes and Come-Along Rakes Using a rake is the quickest way to begin getting the freshly-poured concrete spread more uniformly into place. Garden rakes work but concrete rakes, also called come-along rakes, have a more scooped blade for more easily pre-leveling new concrete. Concrete The tine at the back of the blade helps to move mesh or rebar into the right position before the concrete starts to harden.
13. Tampers A tamper is used with low slump concrete to push the aggregate below the slab surface. There are two types: those that stand on the concrete and the ones that can be moved from the slab edge.
14. Vibrators Concrete vibrators help release trapped air pockets and excess water from the concrete mix to prevent possibly compromising problems in medium to high slump concrete.
15. Screeds Screeds come in a variety of sizes and can be a specific tool (also called straight edges or bump cutters), or can be simple flat pieces of dimensional lumber. Screeds are used to smoothen concrete once it has been placed by scraping away excess material from the slab.
16. Bull Floats Bull floats are wide-bladed tools on a long (possibly telescoping handle) that provide the first pass for leveling ridges and filling voids in the concrete after the screed work has been done.
17. Magnesium Floats Magnesium floats (or mag floats) are smaller handheld floats typically used to float slab edges or to use for finish work on smaller slabs.
18. Kneeling Boards For hand troweling work especially, kneeling boards provide a smooth way to support your weight on the wet concrete while moving easily along the slab surface.

Construction Tools for Finishing Concrete

1. Trowels Trowels also help smooth concrete surfaces for their finish coats before being left to dry. Hand-troweling is common for smaller slabs, or power trowels are often preferred for large slabs. There are varying types of trowels for specific concrete work.
2. Float Blades and Troweling Blades A variety of blade types is available for floats and power trowels, each designed to accomplish different finishes. It is important to avoid burning the surface or prolonging drying times by using a trowel.
3. Groove Cutter/Jointer Tool For certain job types, grooving the surface also helps prevent cracking or excess damage from shrinkage as the concrete dries or during use.
4. Edger An edger is a tool designed to round exposed concrete edges for a smooth finish.
5. Brooms A traditional finish for a concrete slab is a broom finish – drawing a broom across the surface of the almost-dried concrete slab for a slip-resistant surface. You can choose to have a smooth finish or create a more artistic design.
6. Polishers After the slab has dried sufficiently, polishers can be used to produce a surface finish effect, from a gentle smoothing of the surface for traction and safety to a mirror-like shine for an aesthetic finish.
7. Grinders Grinding can also be used for aesthetic effects like a distressed finish or is also sometimes necessary if a slab surface has been over-trowelled and excess moisture is sealed inside the slab.
8. Dust Collection Systems When grinding, polishing, drilling or sawing concrete, a dust collection system helps clear the work area and protect the health of the onsite workers.

Concrete Hand Tools for Testing Concrete

1. Thermo-Hygrometers Ambient conditions play a big role in determining drying time. A thermo-hygrometer monitors temperature and relative humidity in the area around concrete slabs and can inform about potential remediation techniques to speed drying.
2. Hammer Drills or Rotary Drills Placing concrete anchors or doing RH testing requires drilling into a cured concrete slab. Hammer drills (or rotary drills) make the process easier by combining rotation with “percussion” – a pounding motion that breaks up the concrete faster for easier installation. And don’t forget the right bits for the job, too.
3. Concrete Moisture Meters Concrete moisture meters can provide handy “spot checks” of drying slabs. However, care must be taken to remember that they, like the hood method or the calcium chloride method, only provide an indication of surface conditions.
4. Relative Humidity (RH) Test Kit For an accurate indication of the internal moisture condition of a drying slab, RH testing with in situ probes provides effective internal moisture measurement. Backed by ASTM F2170, RH testing can provide necessary moisture data for concrete and flooring installers alike and prevent possible moisture-related problems down the road.

Updated on August 31, 2021