My pour came out chalky because I ran the mixer too wet, just like the old guy at the yard warned me
The batch guy at the yard in Fresno kept saying "keep it stiff enough to stand on its own" and I added about a half gallon extra anyway to make it easier to finish. Two days later the slab was dusty and soft on top and I had to tear out 60 square feet. How do you all judge slump without a cone on small pours?
Used to think the slump cone was overkill for small jobs and I could just eyeball it by how the mud moved off the shovel. Tried that for a few years and got burned more than once, with soft tops showing up right around day two just like yours. Now I mix a small test batch and pull it into a mound with a trowel, and if it slumps flat on its own it gets more cement or less water before it touches the form. It takes two extra minutes and saves a whole lot of tear out. Mixing stiff and working it harder beats mixing wet and watching it turn to dust. That batch guy knew what he was talking about.