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What Is Floor Sawing

What is Floor Sawing?

Floor sawing is a technique widely used in the construction industry to cut reinforced or mass concrete in order to achieve a severance line for construction purposes.

The saw cutting process is a combination of a self-propelled diesel or electric floor saw, a circular diamond tipped blade to cut the concrete and clean flush water to act as a cooling agent.

Because floor sawing is a wet cutting process the demarcation line to be cut has to be clearly marked out using indelible spray as not to be washed away. Once this has been marked then the initial cut can be scored, this would normally only be a shallow cut as the operator wants to lay down an accurate straight line to work too.

Floor sawing is normally done in 25mm depth increments as this keeps the blade straight and true throughout the cutting process however this can vary depending on the strength of the concrete which needs to be cut.

Once the saw has travelled its linear length then it can be turned around to achieve the second pass which will be incrementally 25mm deeper than the first cut. The operator is able to monitor this by using the in built depth gauge or by spray marking the blade accordingly.

If the saw is unable to be turned around then it can either be reversed back to its starting point or the blade can be switched over to the opposite side of the saw, either way the saw will travelled backwards and forwards within the cut until the correct depth has been achieved.

Floor Sawing One

Depending on the depth of cut required the blades can be changed to suit the depth, the most common size is a 600mm diameter, stepping up to 1.500m diameter for deeper cuts.

Floor saws vary in size and weight so they are quite flexible to suit the site ergonomics, or the job in hand, whether it’s cutting for drain slots, joints or builders work openings it can cut the concrete free from percussive action and dust so no vibration is transmitted through the remaining structure and no silica dust becomes airborne as a consequence.
Floor sawing is a commercially viable and efficient way to cut concrete on today’s construction sites and is a technique adopted by most construction companies when separating two integral structures.