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Concrete & Masonryaka: strike-offaka: screeding

Screed

In Plain English

The process of leveling wet concrete to the right height by dragging a straight board across it.

Definition

The process of striking off freshly placed concrete to bring it to a specified grade or elevation using a straight edge, vibrating screed, or laser-guided screed. A screed board or rod is pulled across the forms or grade pins to remove excess concrete and fill low areas. Screeding produces a uniform surface ready for bull floating and final finishing.

Why It Matters in Bidding

Screeding labor and equipment drive concrete placement productivity and finish quality, so the chosen method directly affects the unit cost in a flatwork takeoff. Laser screeds cover large slabs far faster than hand screeding but carry rental and operator costs that only pay off above a certain area, making the method choice a real bid decision.

Example

Bidding a 40,000-square-foot warehouse slab, the concrete sub prices a rented laser screed and a smaller placement crew rather than hand screeding, because the faster strike-off lets them pour and finish in fewer days and hit the flatness specification.

Related Terms

Bull FloatFlatworkFinish GradeTrowel Finish

Frequently Asked Questions

Laser screeds excel on large, open slabs where speed and tight floor-flatness numbers justify the rental and operator cost, typically several thousand square feet and up. Hand or vibrating screeds suit small pours, congested areas, elevated decks, and edges a ride-on machine cannot reach. Many slabs use both methods on the same pour.
Screeding sets the rough plane that later floating and troweling refine, so a sloppy strike-off makes hitting F-number flatness and levelness specs costly. Laser-guided screeds improve consistency and help meet stringent flatness requirements, which matters when the spec ties acceptance or remediation costs to measured F-numbers.
Screeding is part of placement and finishing labor, but estimators should account for it explicitly when choosing equipment, since the method changes crew size and pour duration. Bury it generically and you risk under-pricing large slabs that need a laser screed or over-staffing small pours that do not.

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