Suffolk County
Concrete Cutting in Boston
Cutting concrete in a downtown Boston building is mostly a question of what happens to the water. Wall and slab sawing produces slurry, and on a finished floor in an occupied building the containment and vacuum recovery around the cut is a bigger setup than the cut itself. The second question is what the section weighs and how it comes out — in a building with a booked freight elevator and no lay-down space, a piece that has to be lowered and carried changes the whole method.
What the job covers
- Wall sawing for door, window, louvre and equipment openings
- Slab sawing for trenches, lift pits, stair and shaft openings
- Wire sawing for thick sections, heavily reinforced elements and where a saw cannot fit
- Cutting to a layout line so the opening matches the drawing
- Slurry control and containment — required in an occupied or finished building
- Sections rigged and removed rather than dropped where there is anything below
- Cut material broken out and hauled off
What moves the price
- Thickness of the section and how heavily it is reinforced
- Whether the element is structural, which decides whether shoring and an engineer's detail come first
- Access to both faces — a wall saw needs one side, a wire saw can work where a saw cannot
- Water and slurry management, which in a finished or occupied space is often the largest part of the setup
- Whether the cut sections can be lowered safely, and what is underneath
- Working hours, where noise carries into occupied space
Working in Boston
Boston carries the widest range of demolition work in the region because it holds the widest range of buildings — nineteenth-century masonry downtown and in the Back Bay, institutional and medical buildings through the Longwood area, and new commercial fabric in the Seaport. Almost all of it is attached, occupied or both, so the work is overwhelmingly selective and interior rather than full teardown. Inspectional Services wants the asbestos survey and proof of utility disconnection before a demolition permit issues.
Allied covers Boston and the rest of Suffolk County — all demolition services in Boston.
Common questions
Will cutting an opening weaken the structure?
It can, which is why anything cut through a structural element should be designed before it is cut. Where a structural engineer specifies shoring, lintels or a cutting sequence, that is followed. A saw cut is actually the gentlest way to make the opening — far less disturbance to the surrounding concrete than breaking it out.
How do you keep the mess out of a finished space?
Sawing uses water, so slurry containment and vacuum recovery, floor protection and plastic containment around the work area are part of the setup rather than an extra. On finished floors that is the difference between a clean job and an expensive one.
Other work in Boston
Ready ToClear The Way?
Tell us about the project. Allied will take it from there.
