Best Concrete Trowel for the Job — A Contractor's Buying Guide
Walk into any concrete contractor’s truck and you’ll find half a dozen trowels — and every one is there for a different stage of the pour. Use the wrong trowel and you’ll either tear the surface, leave marks you can’t sand out, or work twice as hard for half the finish.
This guide cuts through the catalogue and tells you which trowel you actually need for which job. Built for GTA contractors pouring slabs, sidewalks, and decorative concrete — and yes, every trowel mentioned here is stocked at our Brampton, Mississauga, and Pickering yards.
The five trowels you actually use
1. Hand float (magnesium or wood)
When: First pass, right after screeding. Brings up cream, embeds aggregate, levels high spots.
Mag vs wood:
- Magnesium — lighter, faster, opens the surface so bleed water can rise. Standard on most pours.
- Wood — drags more, gives a rougher texture, better for slip-resistant finishes (driveways, ramps).
Size: 12” × 5” is the workhorse. 16” × 3-1/2” if you’re covering big slabs fast.
2. Fresno (the big one on a pole)
When: Floating large slabs you can’t reach by walking on the wet concrete. Acts like a hand float on steroids.
Size: 36” and 48” are the GTA standards. Get the magnesium blade with a curved end (it digs less when you push).
Tip: The bull float comes first (for the rough level), then the fresno for the smooth float. Don’t confuse them.
3. Pool trowel (rounded ends)
When: Decorative concrete, pool decks, and any finish where you don’t want hard corners leaving lines.
Why the rounded blade: A square-end finishing trowel leaves witness marks where the corner hits the surface. The pool trowel’s rounded blade glides — no marks. Pros use it for the final pass on stamped, broomed, or hard-troweled decorative work.
Size: 18” × 5” or 20” × 5” is standard. KRAFT makes a solid one with a ProForm handle that costs less than the Marshalltown equivalent.
4. Finishing trowel (square ends)
When: Hard-trowel finishes — interior slabs, warehouse floors, anywhere you want a tight, polished surface.
Steel vs blue steel vs stainless:
- Carbon steel — cheapest, rusts if you don’t clean it. Fine for the casual pour.
- Blue steel — heat-tempered, holds a better edge, the contractor default.
- Stainless — won’t rust, holds up to chemicals (color hardeners, integral pigments). Worth it if you do decorative work.
Size: 14” × 4” is the most versatile. 18” × 5” for big floor work, 11” × 4” for tight spots.
5. Margin trowel
When: Patching, edging around obstructions, mixing small batches, the all-purpose “third hand” on every concrete job.
Skip the bargain ones. The blade flexes and fights you. Spend the extra $5 on a Marshalltown or KRAFT and it’ll last 10 years.
What about edgers and groovers?
Different tool category — these aren’t trowels, they’re finishers. But while you’re here:
- Edgers round the perimeter of the slab so it doesn’t chip. Standard sizes: 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2” radius.
- Groovers / jointers cut control joints (the lines you see in sidewalks every 5 ft). Match the depth to slab thickness — 1/4 of the slab.
Both are in our Edgers and Hand Tools categories.
Buying tips for GTA contractors
- Buy by brand, not price. A $40 KRAFT trowel will outlast three $15 hardware-store specials. We stock KRAFT, Marshalltown, and OX for this reason.
- Match blade size to slab size. A 12” hand float on a 2,000 sq ft slab is going to take you all day. Step up to a 16” or use a fresno.
- Replace handles, not trowels. Most pro trowels have replaceable handles. The blade is what matters.
- Keep two finishing trowels minimum — one for the rough pass, one clean for the polish. Switching trowels mid-pour saves time and gives a better finish.
Stock on hand right now
Browse trowels we carry across all three yards:
Need volume pricing or same-day pickup? Request a quote or call us at 647-926-2597 — we’ll have your order pulled before you finish your coffee.