Pricing centres on four things: saw type, slab thickness, reinforcement and site access. Slurry management adds to that on certain jobs. A domestic plumbing core hole and a commercial saw cut across a 300mm reinforced floor are not priced anywhere near each other. We provide a real, site-assessed quote rather than a placeholder figure. Get a free, site-assessed quote.

It depends on the saw. A track-mounted floor saw typically reaches 150 to 200mm. Ring saws push to around 300mm where a floor saw can’t get access. Diamond core rigs go as deep as the hole requires. We are also adding equipment for larger-diameter core drilling and deeper civil-scale cutting as part of our commercial expansion.

Core drilling creates precise round holes through a slab for plumbing, electrical or HVAC runs, sized to match the install exactly. Cutting covers road saw, wall, hand and ring saw work for straight lines, structural openings and joints. Both start the same way: confirming what’s behind the slab, reinforcement, conduit or live cable, before the saw or drill goes in. See our core drilling page for more detail.

Control joint timing typically falls between four and twelve hours post-pour, depending on mix design and site temperature. Winter needs more patience. Cold slows cure rates, and cutting too early creates drag and rough edges the joint wasn’t designed to carry.

This comes up regularly, a drain that needs coring before an inspection, a doorway holding up a pour. Whether same-day is possible depends on the schedule and the job. Call 0478 817 718 with the site details for a straight answer on timing.

Yes. Structural cutting and core drilling on schools, trading shopping centres and other occupied sites is a core part of the work, carried out with dust and noise control built into the process. Arrival times and access are confirmed ahead of time so the job doesn’t hold up trading hours or other trades. Recent examples include lift shaft openings and wall sawing at Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School during term time, and structural wall openings at Karingal Hub Shopping Centre while the centre stayed open to trade.

Dry cutting works on small, isolated cuts, but wet cutting is standard on any real-scale job. WorkSafe Victoria’s silica exposure limit for construction sits at 0.05mg per cubic metre. Without water suppression or dust extraction on a live site, that threshold is breached early.

Yes, cutting and coring generate noise. Precautions are taken to minimise it and protect safety and comfort on site, which matters most on occupied sites where trade or school activity is continuing around the work.

Structural wall openings, thick slabs and suspended concrete are a different job to a driveway cut, and getting them wrong on a live site risks hitting services, cracking slabs and blowing out cost and time for every trade on the program. Melbourne Concrete Cutters has 20 plus years and 1,000 plus completed projects, is fully licensed, insured and WorkSafe compliant, and has delivered structural cutting for named commercial clients including Lowther Hall, Karingal Hub and BYD Kew.

Wall openings and core drilling are planned around what’s actually on site, pipes, cables, vents and reinforcement, rather than only what the drawings show, which matters most on older Melbourne buildings. Confirming what’s behind the slab before the saw or drill starts is standard practice on every job, not an extra step.