Need a drain trench, a doorway or a bad section of slab out? We cut it straight and plan around what's buried inside.
Concrete cutting in South Lake Tahoe is sawing straight lines through a slab or wall, or core drilling round holes for pipes, drains and conduit, so you get an opening right where you need it without wrecking the concrete around it.
Most calls start with something that has to get through concrete. It might be a drain line under a patio, a doorway in a basement wall, a pipe through a foundation, or a cracked piece of driveway that has to come out before new concrete goes in. A saw leaves a clean, straight edge where a jackhammer leaves a ragged one, so the concrete you keep stays whole and the new work has something solid to meet.
The price moves with how many feet we cut, how thick the concrete is, how much steel is in it and whether it's a floor or a wall. Round holes are usually priced as core drilling rather than as saw cuts, and indoor work or hauling the pieces away changes the number too. The schedule mostly turns on the prep before the saw starts. Your written estimate shows what's included and what isn't.
Three things shape a cutting job before we price it: which saw fits the concrete, what's buried under and around it, and how the dust gets handled while the saw runs.
Where the cut sits and how thick the concrete is decide which saw comes to the job. A flat saw runs across slabs like a driveway or garage floor, and a wall saw cuts walls. Hand saws reach tight spots, wire saws handle very thick or heavily reinforced concrete, and a core drill makes the round holes.
Any water, gas or power line near the cut has to be dealt with first. A concrete sawing trade specification has the owner get utility services shut off and call the right agency to locate buried lines, and state or local rules may require it. On our jobs we get the lines marked and go over the shutoffs with you, so it's in the schedule before a cut date is.
Concrete dust carries crystalline silica, and you don't want to breathe it or have it drift through the house. Federal health guidance calls for controlling it with safe work practices and controls built into the equipment, so we plan for dust before the saw starts and talk with you about what to close up or move away from the cut.
Here's how a cutting job runs from the first call to the last walk-through, and who does what along the way so nothing gets skipped.
Call (530) 307-5972 or use the form. I answer the phone myself, so tell me where the cut goes, roughly how thick the concrete is, whether it's indoors and whether you need the pieces hauled away.
I come out, look at the concrete, ask what the opening is for and check what's around it. You get a written estimate that spells out the cutting, any scan and whether removal is included.
Once you say go, we sort out the permit side and get buried lines marked before the saw touches anything. Then we set a date, mark and agree the cut lines with you, and make the cuts.
When the cutting is done, I walk the job with you so you can see the edges and the opening. If breaking out and hauling was in the estimate, that's done too, and you get plain notes on what comes next.
Before we cut, I want to know what's inside the slab and where buried lines run. A saw doesn't care what it hits, and a cut through a pipe or a tensioned cable turns a simple job into an expensive repair. So the estimate visit is where we find out what we're cutting into, and whether your concrete needs a scan first.
We also tell you up front whether breaking out and hauling the pieces is in the price, because a cut and a cleared opening are two different jobs. A cutter can saw the lines and leave the panels sitting right where they were. I'd rather you know exactly what you're paying for than find a pile of broken slab in your yard you didn't plan on.
A lot of our cutting comes before new concrete. We cut out a broken or sunken section cleanly so concrete driveway building can tie the new pour into the slab you keep, or open up an old slab for a drain or utility run ahead of concrete patio construction. Doing both means one crew answers for how the edges meet.
If most of a slab is sound, cutting out the bad section and pouring just that piece costs less. If the cracks run all over or the base under it has let go, a patch usually just buys time, and a new slab is the better spend.
Inside a garage or basement, the trade specification has the owner provide ventilation that meets OSHA standards for a gas-powered saw. Electric, hydraulic or air-powered saws are the other options indoors, and the space and the concrete decide which makes sense.
Send the form and I'll get back to you within one business day to set a time to come look. The estimate is free, done at your property, and there's no obligation to go ahead. You'll get it in writing, so you can see what's included and what isn't.
(530) 307-5972The City of South Lake Tahoe's Building Division issues building permits for all construction activities and checks the work against the state building code and the City's own ordinances. Whether a particular cut needs one isn't something I'll guess at. If your job needs a City permit, we work out which office it goes through and help you file it before work starts, and when it's unclear, we ask the City.
Work in the City's right-of-way goes through a different office. The Public Works Engineering Division issues encroachment and obstruction permits for that work, and you'll find them on the City's permit applications page. If a pipe breaks under a slab while Development Services is closed, you can make the emergency repair, but you have to submit a permit application to the Building Division within the next working business day.
Most of the cutting we do around South Lake Tahoe is for homeowners, with some for property managers and small businesses. It's usually an older driveway or garage slab that needs a section opened for a drain, a line run through a foundation wall, or a damaged piece cut out so new concrete can go in.
I came to concrete after years in other work and learned it on a finishing crew, and I've run South Lake Tahoe Concrete since 2021. I'm the one who comes out to look at the job and write the estimate. A small crew of experienced form setters and finishers does the work, with me on site for the pour.
We're licensed and insured. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee. If your cut needs a scan or a better plan before it should go ahead, I'll tell you that straight, because a shortcut on a cut costs you more later than doing it right now. When you're ready, call (530) 307-5972 or use the contact form.
When a cut-out section leaves a gap, or the old driveway is too far gone to patch, a new pour on a well-packed base gets it flat again.
Once an old patio is cut and cleared, or a drain line runs underneath, you've got a clean start for a new patio that sends water away from the house.
We're based in South Lake Tahoe, CA, and we work in the cities around it too. If your property is nearby and you're not sure whether we cover it, call and ask.
Professional saw cutting of concrete slabs across the US usually costs about $4 to $15 per linear foot. That's a national figure for sawing slabs, and it doesn't cover breaking out or hauling the pieces. Your written estimate gives the number for your own job.
Not always, so ask before you agree to a price. Sawing and removal are separate jobs, and breaking, hauling and disposal fees can add more than the sawing itself. Budget for both, not just the cut, so the second bill doesn't catch you off guard.
It may, if the slab is structural or post-tensioned, with steel cables pulled tight inside it. A scan finds rebar, the steel bars that hold a slab together, along with those cables, pipes and other hazards before the saw does. Ask early so it's part of the plan, and I'll tell you at the estimate whether yours needs one.
California's Contractors State License Board does. The board lists concrete sawing, breaking and coring work in a contractor license classification of its own, so it's a fair question to ask anyone you're thinking of hiring which license they hold for the work.
You're without that section until the new concrete is poured and cured, and that takes longer than the cut itself. Curing is the wait that lets new concrete get strong enough to drive on. Before the saw starts, lines get marked, the slab gets scanned if it needs it, and any permit gets sorted.
Line marking and any permit take time to sort out, so calling (530) 307-5972 or using the form before your other trades are booked keeps the cut from holding them up.
