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Field Notes
What this section is
I spend 6 to 10 hours a day in my vehicle, four to six days a week, about 60,000 miles a year, moving between concrete plants and jobsites. You see things at that pace that you cannot see from a desk. Field Notes is where those observations become useful writing: problem-to-solution pieces on the things crews actually run into, written in the pattern I stick to everywhere. If you are dealing with a particular problem, here is the category to consider and the trade-off that comes with it.
How these are written
Every piece here starts from a real problem and works toward a way to think about it, never toward a product. When there is a jobsite behind a story, it stays anonymous. The goal is the same one I hold to on the road: be genuinely useful, be honest about the trade-offs, and never pretend a single fix solves a system-shaped problem.
Read this first
When should you worry about a crack in concrete?
The most common question I get, answered plainly: which cracks are normal, which ones are telling you something, and the question to ask before you blame the concrete.
Coming next
- Type IL cement: what crews are actually seeing, and what helps.
- Hot-weather concreting: the checklist that saves the pour.
Field Notes - Questions
Where does the material for this section come from?
The windshield. I drive about 60,000 miles a year between plants and jobsites, 6 to 10 hours a day, four to six days a week. Field Notes is the problems I actually see on that route, written up as problem and solution in general terms.
Will you give specific fixes?
I give the approach, not a product. The pattern is: if you are dealing with a particular problem, here is the category of thing to consider and the trade-offs that come with it. I do not name brands, and I keep any real jobsite anonymous.
Working through a mix, a spec, or a pour problem?
I spend most days between concrete plants and jobsites, and I read every message. If I don’t know the answer, I usually know who does. No pitch — ask away.
Ask me on LinkedIn or send a question here