Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Concrete Coring

1.  A concrete core drill rig is more complicated than it looks.

 Many people think a concrete core drill is a simple machine. In many ways, it is. It’s a base, a telescoping armature, and whichever drill bit you’re using to get into the material you’re coring. Sounds easy enough, right?

Well—not so fast. You still have to think about how you’re going to run the rig. On most projects, there’s no access to electrical power yet when we arrive. This means either a gas slab drill which requires an integrated fuel tank and an additional fuel supply or an electric slab rig run off a gas generator which means you need a whole other machine to run the machine that’s going to do the work! They are also mostly cooled by water, so you’re going to need a water bucket so the machine can suck up enough water not to bind up while you’re making the cut. Most mobile rigs for coring concrete and asphalt are electric, which means hauling the rig and generator from truck to core site to core site to core site to truck again.

But how hard can THAT be?

2.  Coring rigs are HEAVY.

Because of the work they’re designed for, coring rigs have to be sturdily built—and that means extra weight. Even if you attach the largest drill bit at the precise point you’re going to core, you’re still maneuvering around 150lbs of steel around. Sure, most core rigs have wheels, which work about as well as your average wheeled suitcase and have all the turning capability of the average brick. Plus, on the average job site there are cables, conduits, hoses, pipes and obstructions all over the place, never mind all the people and equipment moving around. Now you’re navigating this heavy piece of equipment across uneven ground, thinking at least five steps ahead. Then you have to get the rest of the equipment. Remember you needed that water bucket? Five gallons of water weighs about 50lbs on its own. That generator is at least 50lbs. The drill bit could top 30lbs, and remember the rig is around 150lbs on its own. You also need the wrench to attach and lock the bit into place, so add another 5lbs or so. You’re already coming up on 300lbs of equipment to cart around before you ever touch bit to concrete. Plus you need another container for the cores you collect, which could weigh anywhere from a few ounces to upwards of 20lbs—and all that has to be hauled BACK when you’re done!

3.  Concrete cutting is LOUD.

This shouldn’t come as any surprise, but it’s amazing how many times someone will try to have a conversation over the sound of concrete or asphalt coring. Just running the rig and generator makes about as much noise as a lawnmower at 85dB. When you’re cutting cores, between the generator noise, the basic sound from the rig motor and the core drill itself, the noise level jumps up sharply, to somewhere around 120dB. That’s about as loud as standing right in front of the stage at a Metallica concert. For this reason, hearing protection is a must when you’re working in close quarters with one of these machines—and chatting it up while you’re drilling isn’t really a thing.

4.  Core rigs are temperamental.

Coring is definitely one area where the maxim “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast” applies! Just like any other skill, a properly qualified operator can make running a core rig look safe, smooth and simple. And in theory, it is. But it only takes one mistake to bind a coring bit in the material, warp the bit or make an off-center cut that gets the core jammed inside the bit. The rig has to be held perfectly straight and level and the cut has to be made slowly and smoothly to prevent binding and bit warping. Anyone who’s worked for a concrete coring company for more than ten minutes has probably had all of these things happen to them, and it can shut down work in a big hurry! Getting a jammed core out of a bit requires massaging the core up and down within the bit while tapping the side of the bit with a rubber mallet to help ease it out. Asphalt can be even trickier, because the bituminous binding agent melts with the heat of drilling the core and then cools, basically gluing itself to the interior of the bit. It’s not a lot of fun to have to deal with, and an experienced technician like the ones Safe2Core Inc. employs will be deeply committed to never having to go through THAT again!

5.  If you cut it, you have to fill it.

You can’t just be leaving holes in floors, driveways or roadways. (Of course, you CAN, but you’re probably going to bring down the wrath of the engineer, contractor and project owner on your head, not to mention the general public who has to deal with the pothole later.) This means you have to patch the holes you’ve made, unless you’re doing a wall core cut to allow for a large conduit to pass through, which is a whole different beast. For patching, most projects will require something like Quikrete or cold-patch asphalt, depending on the material you’re working with. To patch the holes in concrete, you have to have a way to mix up the concrete, fill the hole and finish it off smooth and level so it doesn’t leave a joint around the core location, sink in on itself or cause a trip hazard by bulging. For asphalt patching, you have to scoop out the cold patch, fill the hole about halfway in a single lift and compact that into a firm surface before you repeat the process at the top. You can’t leave divots, joints or depressions, because this can cause a trip hazard in foot traffic areas, interfere with drainage and allow water and frost to infiltrate the material outdoors, leading to damage five or ten years down the road, if you’ll pardon the pun.

As you can see, concrete coring is a lot more complex and labor-intensive than it looks. 

That’s why when you need coring or saw cut operations done right the first time, you need Safe2Core Inc.! 

From San Bernadino to southern California to Denver and beyond, Safe2Core Inc. is the preferred source for concrete and asphalt cutting solutions including:

• Concrete grinding and grooving

• Concrete removal

• Concrete sawing

• Concrete scanning

• Flat sawing

• GPR detection of plumbing, electrical, gas and water lines

• Safety grooving

• Slab sawing

• Wall sawing

• Wire sawing

• And more!

For a quote request, click here to contact your locally owned and operated Safe2Core Inc. office. Be sure to mention the location of project and your specific needs so we can serve you more efficiently! Don’t forget to check out our testimonials and FAQ about concrete core drilling below either, to learn more about concrete core drilling from Safe2Core Inc.!