Sawing Concrete

Tips from Real-Estate-Agents.com

Before sawing into an existing wall or floor, it is suggested that a pre-job meeting be held with the owner or contracting agency to determine many things:

Is there steel rebar in the wall?
What is the size and location? If in the area to be sawed, what effects will it have on the stability of the wall?
Can a cut be moved to avoid splitting rebar? If so, how far?
Are there utility lines in the wall, next to the wall, or secured to or by the wall? If buried, have the owner or contracting agency mark where they are located and turn off all services.
Are there any known hazards on the job? If so, they should be identified by the responsible party.

Diamond core drilling

Diamond core drilling is a method of cutting a wide range of holes in reinforced concrete, masonry, refractory, asphalt, stone, and other hard materials. The bit does the drilling, utilizing diamonds as cutting teeth. The diamond bit removes material around the hole being drilled, producing a core.

Walls

Vertical surfaces and surfaces inclined to the point that slab saws cannot be used are the application areas for wall saws. Sawing door and window openings in concrete walls and structures generally constitute the major use of wall sawing. Wall saws are not limited to just walls. They are used on many other vertical concrete surfaces as well.

Floors

Slab sawing, flat sawing and floor sawing are done on reasonably level surfaces. Slab sawing is commonly done on pavement, floors, roofs, bridge decks, and similar sites. It is typically done for many reasons:

provide expansion joints
to remove damaged pavement sections
to clean and prepare random cracks for repair
to insert pipes, conduit and electrical cables into concrete
for demolition purposes