Concrete Finisher
Federal figures put this role between $39,190 and $85,480 a year, with a national median of $57,020.
What the job actually is.
Places, screeds, floats and finishes concrete flatwork: judging the set, bull floating, edging and jointing, power trowelling to the specified finish, and curing. The whole job happens inside a window the weather decides.
What this role pays.
We have not closed enough masonry & concrete searches to publish a band of our own for this seat, so the figures above are the federal 10th to 90th percentile spread rather than a My Trade Talent band. They are national and not adjusted for experience or region.
The federal occupation for this role is Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers (SOC 47-2051), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $57,020 , with the middle of the market between $39,190 and $85,480.
Where it pays most.
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 99 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | $81,020 | 3,890 |
| Seattle | $80,860 | 2,140 |
| Modesto | $76,500 | 350 |
| San Francisco | $75,970 | 2,420 |
| San Jose | $75,520 | 1,500 |
| Spokane | $75,210 | 400 |
| Portland | $75,090 | 1,410 |
| Milwaukee | $74,730 | 930 |
| McAllen | $38,620 | 390 |
| El Paso | $41,940 | 570 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | $44,420 | 140 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
Credentials that move an offer.
No single credential reliably moves an offer in this seat. Employers screen on demonstrated commercial experience instead, which makes the resume harder to read and the reference check worth more.
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Masonry & Concrete hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
What separates a strong candidate.
Everyone who applies for this seat will claim the experience. These are the things that distinguish the people who have it, and the questions that find out.
What to look for
- Reads the set rather than working to a clock
- Knows what jointing is for and where the joints have to land
- Has finished to a flatness specification and knows how it was measured
Questions that find out
- How do you know when the slab is ready to float, and what happens if you start early? A strong answer Reads the slab rather than the clock: the bleed water gone from the surface, and a footprint leaving a shallow impression rather than sinking in. Knows it varies across the slab with sun, wind, mix and thickness, so one area may be ready while another is not. Starting early works bleed water back into the surface and gives a weak, dusting, crazed finish that shows up months later as a soft floor.
- Where do your control joints go on a slab with columns, and why there? A strong answer Puts joints through the columns rather than past them, usually with a diamond or a box-out around the column, because the column is a restraint and a crack will start there otherwise. Keeps panels close to square rather than long and thin, respects the maximum spacing for the thickness, and lines joints up with re-entrant corners and changes in the slab. Says a crack will appear where you did not put a joint.
- The forecast says rain in two hours and the truck is on site. What do you do? A strong answer Decides before the concrete is on the ground: how much can be placed and finished in the time, whether covering is realistic for that area, and whether to cut the pour at a planned joint rather than being caught mid-slab. Has covering and a plan ready rather than sending for it. Will stop and send trucks back, because rain on a fresh surface means a weak, scaled finish that has to come out.
- How do you work with the pump or the chute so the placement does not outrun the finishing? A strong answer Matches placement rate to what the finishing crew can actually handle, and says so to the pump operator and the supervisor rather than letting the slab get ahead and then chasing it. Plans the direction of pour so they are always working to a fresh edge and never boxed in. Knows crew size and the weather decide the rate, and that a slab placed faster than it can be finished is finished badly.
- What causes a slab to craze or dust, and how do you avoid it? A strong answer Names the causes: finishing with bleed water on the surface, adding water to the surface to make it work easier, overworking the surface, finishing too early, and inadequate or late curing. Avoids them by waiting for the bleed to go, never sprinkling water, keeping the trowelling appropriate to the finish, and curing properly and promptly. Says dusting is almost always a finishing or curing fault rather than a bad mix.
- How do you handle a pour that is setting faster than the crew can finish? A strong answer Recognises it early from the mix, the weather and how the first area is behaving, and gets more hands, more machines, or slows the placement rather than racing and finishing badly. Works in smaller areas, prioritises getting the surface closed. Talks to the supplier about the mix and the admixtures for the next load. Says they would rather stop the pour at a joint than hand over a slab they could not finish properly.
- What is your approach to joints, and what happens when they are cut late? A strong answer Cuts as early as the concrete will allow without ravelling - the window is hours, not days, and shorter in hot weather - because the slab will crack on its own if the joint is not there first. Knows early-entry saws exist precisely to widen that window. Cuts to the required depth, usually a fraction of the slab thickness, because a shallow cut does not induce the crack. Says a late joint is a decorative line next to a real crack.
- How do you finish to a flatness spec, and how do you check it? A strong answer Knows flatness and levelness are measured separately and that the finishing technique drives flatness while the screeding and the forms drive levelness. Uses a laser screed or a straightedge and checks as they go rather than after. Knows the slab has to be measured within a defined time after placement and that fixing it afterwards means grinding or topping. Can say which numbers their work typically achieves.
- What is your approach to a slab on metal deck versus on grade? A strong answer Knows the deck deflects as the concrete goes on, so a constant-thickness pour and a constant-elevation pour are different things and the specification has to say which. Watches the thickness over the mid-span, works with the deck's camber rather than against it, and knows curing and the deck's effect on drying differ from a slab on grade. Checks the deck is clean and the studs and reinforcement are right before any concrete arrives.
- What is your approach to curing and why does it get shortcut? A strong answer Starts curing as soon as the surface will take it and keeps it going for the full period, by wet cure, covering or a curing compound compatible with whatever goes on the floor later. Knows it gets shortcut because the slab looks finished and the next trade wants the space, and that the cost appears later as dusting, crazing, low strength and curling. Says what they would insist on and to whom.
- How do you handle a slab that has to receive a specific floor covering later? A strong answer Finds out what is going down before the pour, because it changes everything: curing compounds that must be compatible or omitted, the finish - a hard-trowelled surface is wrong under some coverings - the flatness tolerance, and the moisture the slab will have to reach. Says that most flooring failures start here, and that nobody asks the finisher until the flooring contractor fails the slab.
- What is your process for an exposed aggregate or decorative finish? A strong answer Plans it before the pour: the mix and the aggregate chosen for the look, a sample panel made and approved on site rather than from a brochure, and the method - surface retarder and wash, or seeding - and the timing worked out for the day's conditions. Knows the window for washing is narrow and varies across the slab. Protects it afterwards. Says the sample panel is what prevents the argument.
- How do you handle a cold joint you did not plan for? A strong answer Stops at a sensible line rather than wherever the concrete ran out, forms or cuts a proper edge and keys it where the design allows, and tells the engineer, because an unplanned joint in a structural slab is their decision. Knows how to prepare the face before the next pour and that a cold joint is a plane of weakness and a water path. Does not feather it out and hope it disappears.
- What is your approach to reinforcing placement and cover? A strong answer Checks the steel is where the drawing says before any concrete arrives: the right size and spacing, supported on chairs rather than pulled up during the pour, laps correct, and cover maintained top and bottom. Knows mesh walked into the bottom of a slab does nothing, and that insufficient cover means corrosion later. Keeps the crew off it during placement and checks it again as the pour moves.
- How do you finish around embeds and penetrations? A strong answer Finds them before the pour, checks they are secured and at the right elevation, and plans the finishing around them because that is where the surface goes wrong. Works the concrete properly around and under an embed so there are no voids, keeps the finish consistent up to the edge, and knows a joint or a crack will often want to run from a penetration so a joint may need to pick it up.
- What would make you reject a truck? A strong answer Names real triggers: slump outside the specified range, concrete older than the time limit from batching, water added on site beyond what the ticket allows, the wrong mix on the ticket, or visible segregation. Checks the ticket every load. Knows adding water at the truck to make it place easier destroys the strength and is the most common thing they will be asked to allow. Says they have sent a truck back.
The mistake this seat invites
Screening on general construction labour history. Finishing is a timing judgement under weather pressure, and a slab finished wrong cannot be redone.
Where the role goes next
Finishers move to lead finisher and foreman, and decorative and polished work extends the career. Candidates ask this in the first conversation, and an employer who cannot answer it loses the people who had other options.
Interview kit for this role
- All interview questions for this role in the question bank.
- Printable interview scorecard built from these questions and signals.
- The Masonry & Concrete hiring kit - every role in the trade, with credentials and offer risks.
- Offer calculator starting from this role's pay band.
What the search actually takes.
We have closed 1 masonry & concrete searches in 2026 year to date, which is below the 8 we require before publishing a median. We would rather print the count than a number the sample cannot carry. The Hiring Index shows what we do and do not have.
Keep reading.
- 2026 Masonry & Concrete Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- Masonry & Concrete recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- Masonry & Concrete hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other Masonry & Concrete roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.
