“I find on big slabs, boot-thong can eliminate the need for 2 trowelling machines as no time is wasted on going back and forwards to eliminate deep boot prints, saving time and money.” – Ben Green

“I’ve given my knee boards the flick, you really do float on concrete” – Ryan Miller

“Where were these 30years ago” – Dale Hage

“I ridiculed Boot-thongs at first but after using them I’ve realised I’m saving time, energy and most importantly, money!” – Dan Clancy

A Concrete Suggestion

Concrete has come a long way since I started screeding back in 1966. It seemed like a logical occupation for a young surfy like me. It was hard work but it kept me fit and the money was good.

I guess if you stick at one thing for long enough, you get to learn a few things and concrete has certainly come a long way since those days.

Who would have thought that the wheelbarrow would all but be replaced by the concrete pump and that plain old concrete paths would be replaced by special spray on, anti slip effects that are endless in their potential for design and improvisation?

So effective have these modern systems been, particularly in Australia, that I have had the satisfaction of teaching methods to builders in Korea, India, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Dubai, United States, Qatar and various Pacific Island. and other international locations. In the ancient country of Malta, we had to use concrete on antique buildings and pathways that had to be rejuvenated and ‘married in’ to ancient artifacts thousands of years old. With special effects, colors, and dyes, this was done effectively.

After all these years on the trowel and screed, you think you can’t improve these methods, but a couple of local concreters have proved me wrong [again] 

Finishing the slab has always been a challenge, because after the screeding has been done, you have to walk all over it with a helicopter or a trowel, to complete the surface.  Leaving great ugly holes in the slab which have to be smoothed over as the job is finished off, and this takes considerable time, especially if you are a 140 kilo heavyweight like myself.

The practice has always been to take your boots off and put on a pair of rubber thongs which leave less marks.  Work place health and safety, understandably, has frowned on this practice for obvious safety reasons.  The various chemicals and additives making up wet concrete can play havoc with your skin, and of course if you drop something on your bare foot in this process, you could have the insurance companies screaming.

So what have our innovative Auzzie concreters come up with?  Well, they have designed and built a large rubber sandal that straps on OVER the boot and allows you to walk on concrete without putting excessive imprints in the surface.   That means you can keep your boot on.  Your foot is protected, and the job is done more quickly with less indentations.

We tried the ‘boot thong’ the other day on a job at the Lightning Ridge club.  My son Jamie commented: “it’s a pity we hadn’t had these 20 years ago. It would have saved a lot of hard work”.

At 58, Leigh is still concreting, although he admits that he does a lot more supervising and gets his sons to do much of the hard work.  He still enjoys surfing, from time to time. He also enjoys sitting back and reminiscing about the past.  It has been a tough life in the concrete game, but it has served his family well and they are still benefiting by it today.