There may be times when you need to cut some concrete on your property, such as when you want to pull up an old driveway or cut through a basement floor in order to remove cracked areas and put down new concrete. While it might seem simple enough to rent a concrete cutter from a home improvement store and tackle this job yourself, there are some very good reasons why you want to leave this work to the pros. Note a few of those here so you know your concrete cutting will be handled properly.
1. Sawing tools
Because of the thickness of concrete, there are usually different tools used to cut the material. As an example, if you're going to be cutting a concrete wall, you need what is called a track saw. This machine mounts to the wall and pulls the saw along as it cuts; without this assist, the material may be too thick for you to manually push the saw through. Cutting through a concrete floor means using a slab saw, which is mounted on a cart that an operator stands behind. Not using this type of saw can mean an imprecise line and also getting too close to the saw when cutting the floor, increasing your risk of injury.
For very large concrete cutting jobs, a contractor might use wire sawing. This involves a cable that has tiny diamond segments attached and which is pulled through the concrete. This type of sawing is complicated but may be necessary to handle the largest of jobs and get them done quickly and precisely. To ensure that the right tool is used for the concrete sawing you need done, it's best to call a contractor so he or she can determine which kwik cut tool would be right for your cutting job.
2. Methods
Cutting concrete doesn't mean just putting the blade to the concrete and turning on the saw; usually a line needs to be scored and chiseled out so that the blade can easily work through the concrete and a precise cut can be made. Also, a contractor may want to change the tools they use during the cutting process; a lightweight hand tool might allow for a cut only a few inches or centimeters deep so they can continue to score a precise line. They may then want to switch to a heavy-duty machine that will give them the power needed to cut deeper into the concrete. As they will be more familiar with these methods of getting a precise line, it's good to leave this work to a contractor.
