Cutting a channel in concrete floor
- Thread starter Diyisfun
- Start date
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Very carefully after ensuring that cutting the channel will not weaken the floor enough to make it un-safe. Might not be a good idea if there is a room, cellar or crawl space under the concrete.
If the concrete floor is supported by the ground (ie ground bearing slab), then there should be no problem cutting a channel in the floor. If it is suspended, then you should not cut into it.
There may be a screed above the actual structural floor (usually about 50mm deep), which should be safe to cut into.
Make sure you wrap the pipes in denso tape or similar, so that they can continue to expand and contract within the floor.
There may be a screed above the actual structural floor (usually about 50mm deep), which should be safe to cut into.
Make sure you wrap the pipes in denso tape or similar, so that they can continue to expand and contract within the floor.
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Angle grinder or circular saw chucked with a masonry blade. Cut in 5 - 6mm deep passes, and chisel out the slot, if you hit wire mesh just go thro it. Dont go too deep in the slab, there might be a membrane (DPM) below the slab.
You can buy a machine which is basically an angle grinder that has two diamond blades side by side, but you can set the gap between them usually anywhere from about 10mm to 40mm.
It has a shroud over the blades to which you can attach a vacuum cleaner.
You run it along the floor and it makes two perfectly parallel cuts and sucks all the dust out as it goes, you then just chisel the center of the cuts out using an SDS breaker or a hammer and chisel...
It has a shroud over the blades to which you can attach a vacuum cleaner.
You run it along the floor and it makes two perfectly parallel cuts and sucks all the dust out as it goes, you then just chisel the center of the cuts out using an SDS breaker or a hammer and chisel...
The above suggestion for a concrete channel cutter might fly if one did concrete cutting for a living but for a ten foot slot its not the way for a DIY'er to go.
Hire the tool mentioned by loply from your local hire shop and get a sharp cold chile or bolster and 2Lb heavy hammer to remove the waste. Better to use this machine and make narrow cuts that will be easier to knock out with the chisel.
Check the depth of cut these machines make as it may not be enough, but they are certainly cleaner especially if hire with a vacuum cleaner to attach it to.
Check the depth of cut these machines make as it may not be enough, but they are certainly cleaner especially if hire with a vacuum cleaner to attach it to.
Just to clarify, you can get one of those double blade angle grinder things for I think about £30 or £40. Pretty sure that's all I paid for mine, from Screwfix I think.
Total god send for chasing in new sockets, putting TVs on walls, etc, as they keep dust down to a manageable level in furnished rooms.
Total god send for chasing in new sockets, putting TVs on walls, etc, as they keep dust down to a manageable level in furnished rooms.
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