Concrete Breaking: What are you in For?

People use concrete as a building material because it's durable and strong enough to last a lifetime. But what happens when you need to break on through to the other side of that concrete wall or floor? You'll need to call in experts for the heavy lifting here, but it's a good idea to read up on some of the main concrete breaking techniques, so that you will know what to expect before the work begins. Depending on the type of job, your concrete breaking professional will suggest one of the following techniques:

Concrete Cutting: Interior Floors
It sometimes happens that you need to get through a basement or garage floor in order to fix water, sewer, or electric lines. When this is the case, your concrete breaking firm will most likely suggest Slab Sawing. In this method, a large, diamond blade is mounted on a walk-behind saw. For interior use, electric or exhaust-free slab saws usually make the most sense. If it's outdoors or in a well-ventilated garage, a powerful gas-powered model will often be used.

Concrete Coring: Installation of Ducts, Pipes or Sewage
When you need to get a round peg through a solid block, Concrete Coring is what you need. In concrete coring, a large drill is used to cut a hole in a concrete floor or wall, to make way for ductwork, electrical wiring, or piping for water, sewer, heating and so on, as well as creating drainage in floors. Holes can be cut in a range of diameters and at practically any angle, making this a sensible option for many applications. In concrete coring, it is possible to break through any thickness of concrete.

Concrete Cutting for Walls and Vertical Surfaces
Just because your home is made from brick or cinder block, it doesn't mean that you can't add a door or window where you need it. To get through heavy-duty walls, most concrete breaking professionals will use a diamond blade mounted on a track system for precise concrete cutting. This allows them to make accurate cuts for doors, windows, and ductwork. The same set-up will often be used when a surface is too steep for a walk-behind saw. In tight spaces, a Hand Saw might be used instead.

Driveways and Outdoor Surfaces
Concrete surfaces can become slippery when wet. In the name of safety and comfort, it sometimes makes sense to cut grooves in the surface of the concrete. This is usually accomplished using a specialized grinding blade with diamonds mounted on the side. A similar saw is used when it comes to smoothing uneven concrete surfaces, such as driveways or doorways, and other cosmetic work.

Cutting Large Areas of Concrete
If you need to take up an entire patio, cutting through curbs, or a long driveway, your concrete breaking professional will need to pull out the big guns. Usually a ride-on saw with a large, diamond-tipped blade, or occasionally a boom-mounted robotic hammer will be used.

The time and expense of concrete cutting work will depend on the extent of the job and the equipment required. But arming yourself with knowledge will help you to communicate clearly with your concrete breaking professional so that you get the best service possible.