Cutting a door through a concrete foundation
Steve
well. So I have a "concrete room" attached behind the original
foundation, currently only accessible by a small door in a poor
location. I am looking to cut a door through another spot in the
poured concrete wall (foundation). An additional hitch is that there
are (2) 16" I beams resting on this wall and that support the rest of
the house. The door I want to create is between the 2 beams. See
picture below.
Do I need any special supports/headers in the concrete wall?
Any other considerations?
Can this be done by a do-it yourselfer?
======== and || are foundation walls.
// are the 2 I beams
XXXXX is the door I want to cut
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Jim Fincher
specializes in concrete "cutting, coring, sawing" etc. The beams likely will
have adequate support if as your drawing suggests, they are quite a distance
away from the cutout. You may need to add a support beam above the door to
support the remaining joist you have over the door....
I'd advise you to have a professional evaluate the structural aspect of
it....then you can subcontract it and do what sweat equity parts you have the
tools, experience and time to allot to the project.
Jim
"Steve" <sgro...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:4bb7eb09.03012...@posting.google.com...
John Smith
> well. So I have a "concrete room" attached behind the original
> foundation, currently only accessible by a small door in a poor
> location. I am looking to cut a door through another spot in the
> poured concrete wall (foundation). An additional hitch is that
there
> are (2) 16" I beams resting on this wall and that support the rest
of
> the house. The door I want to create is between the 2 beams. See
> picture below.
>
> Do I need any special supports/headers in the concrete wall?
> Any other considerations?
In addition to the diamond sawing companies, you can check out
hydro-cutting using high pressure water.
Pascasito
>> Any other considerations?
Wall sawing is *expensive.* Be prepared to get
only time and material rates if someone doesn't
come out and look at the job.
I don't have good current prices. We seem to
get charged different prices depending on the job.
Concrete cutting leaves a *big mess.* If using
wet sawing, be careful where the slurry winds
up. More than one sewer has been plugged up
with slurry! It's like "reconstituted concrete."
Pascasito
Just sawed and sealed my driveway. Couldn't
believe how much crap I had to shovel up!
Steve
Thank you all for your suggestions. Assuming that I don't need any
special supports (my original question), why couldn't I cut this
myself with a diamond tipped circular saw?
Jimmy Galvin
You probably could but you would have to cut from both sides of the wall and
hit the lines cut on the first side. Make sure you can cut well over 1/2 way
through so the first cut line will sort of guide you on your second cut. You
will have to plan on using a couple of dry blades and probably throwing the
saw away knowing what cement dust sucked through a circular saw will do to
it. I sure wouldn't want to do it but if you want to go ahead and give it a
try.
Wolfgang
WARE and I mean it. I do mead every ware. I cut out a concrete floor in
Colorado to repair a hot water pipe, I tented the area with plastic and
sealed my self in. When I finished cutting I could barley see the saw (2'),
I though that it would be OK outside the plastic but when I got out the
entire hallway was filled with dust. I cleaned for 6 hours just to get the
dust off the walls and ceiling. I will never cut concrete with a circular
saw inside again. The saw was also toast.
Hire a good cutting company and have a wet capable shop vac ready to help
clean up the slurry mix.
Wolfgang
"Steve" <sgro...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:4bb7eb09.03020...@posting.google.com...
Rico dJour
>Date: 02/06/2003 3:56 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <b1ui6r$a...@dispatch.concentric.net>
>
>Cutting concrete with a circular saw is VERY messy, you will have dust EVERY
>WARE and I mean it. I do mead every ware. I cut out a concrete floor in
>Colorado to repair a hot water pipe, I tented the area with plastic and
>sealed my self in. When I finished cutting I could barley see the saw (2'),
>I though that it would be OK outside the plastic but when I got out the
>entire hallway was filled with dust. I cleaned for 6 hours just to get the
>dust off the walls and ceiling. I will never cut concrete with a circular
>saw inside again. The saw was also toast.
Why didn't you rent a wet saw?
R
Donk Plonkembach
> >From: "Wolfgang" wo...@lylehomes.com
> >Date: 02/06/2003 3:56 PM Eastern
Standard Time
> >Message-id: <b1ui6r
$a...@dispatch.concentric.net>
> >
> >Cutting concrete with a circular saw is
VERY messy, you will have dust EVERY
> >WARE and I mean it.
Well, yes it is (as is grinding, drilling
or mixing concrete, or cutting tile or
stone too for that matter) but I would
have thought that this would be obvious
and that people would know enough to take
precautions to control dust.
ie Wet down the work before cutting + keep
a small stream of water on the cut
(gravity drip from an inverted bottle with
3/16" tubing to direct water at the cut
will do fine in the absence of a rented
wetsaw)
+ shop vac (or other device) to remove
airborne dust from the work enclosure.
If one doesn't know this stuff at the
outset of the first time doing such a job
simply by thinking about the task before
attempting it (ie proactive solution) ,
one quickly learns the necessity of doing
it(within 30 secs or less I'd say) while
doing it (reactive solution).
As is usually the case, proactive
solutions are usually less hassle in the
long run.
As to burning out the saw,(assuming that
it wasn't a cheap one) it was probably due
to overheating of the armature windings
due to concrete dust build-up/plug-up,
again due to inadequate dust control.