Soft cutting fresh concrete
Control joints cut the day the slab goes down, before it starts shrinking. House pads, driveways, sheds and commercial floors.
Soft cutting is a cut made into concrete while it is still green, on the day it is poured. Every slab shrinks as it dries and every slab will crack somewhere. An early entry joint decides where: the crack forms under the cut line, out of sight.
It is a timing job as much as a cutting job, so we cut on the day of the pour, 5am or 5pm, whichever end of the day the slab needs. House slabs, driveways, paths, pole sheds and outdoor areas, residential, commercial and civil.
Put a number on it
Tell us how many metres and what the finish is. The price comes back on this page.
- 1The job
- 2Where
- 3Details
Text a photo of the slab and the access to 027 966 9505 and it lands with your job.
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Common jobs for this service. If yours is not on the list, ask.
- A house pad, driveway or path is going down and the control joints have to be in on the day of the pour.
- A shed or pole shed floor needs its joints cut.
- The pour runs late and the joints still have to go in that day.
- The driveway is an exposed aggregate or sponge finish.
- The slab has external corners, which is where fresh concrete cracks without a line to follow.
The numbers
- Depth control
- Variable depth, not fixed
- When we cut
- The day of the pour
- Wet or dry cutting
- Both
- Dust
- Extracted at the blade
Joint depth is set from the slab thickness, so tell us what you are pouring.
Have this ready
None of it is compulsory. It is just the difference between one visit and two.
- The pour date, and the time your finishers expect to be off the slab.
- Slab thickness, so the joint depth is set before we get there.
- The joint layout, or we set it out with you on site.
- The finish: plain, sponge, broom or exposed aggregate.
- Access onto the area, plus power and water, or a heads up that there is neither.
How we do it
The sequence on a normal job.
- Set out the joint layout from your plans, or mark it out with you on site.
- Cut on the day of the pour, at whichever end of the day the slab needs.
- Cut with a variable depth saw, joint depth set to the slab rather than to a fixed stop.
- Extract the dust at the blade on a dry cut, and vacuum the slurry on a wet one.
- Leave the site clean.
What we get asked
When can you cut a fresh slab?
On the day of the pour. Ring us when the pour is booked and we will cut at 5am or 5pm, whichever end of the day the slab needs.
What is the difference between soft cutting and floor sawing?
Soft cutting goes into green concrete on the day of the pour and controls where the slab cracks. Floor sawing happens once the slab is hard: expansion cuts, rebates and deep cuts. Different saws, different day, and the floor sawing page covers the hard cutting.
How deep does a soft cut joint go?
It is set from the slab thickness, which is why we run variable depth saws rather than fixed depth ones. Tell us what you are pouring and the depth is set before we arrive.
Can you cut an exposed aggregate or sponge finish driveway?
Yes. We cut exposed aggregate and sponge finish driveways.
Why not wait and cut it once it has gone hard?
Because the slab does not wait. A joint cut while the concrete is green gives the shrinkage a line to follow, so the cracking happens under the cut where nobody sees it.
Do you soft cut commercial floors as well as houses?
Yes. Residential, commercial and civil. No job too big or too small.
Timaru out to the Mackenzie
Timaru is the base, and we travel for the work.
- Timaru Our base
- Temuka South Canterbury
- Geraldine South Canterbury
- Ashburton Mid Canterbury
- Twizel About two and a half hours from Timaru
We also work across Mid Canterbury, North Otago and the Mackenzie.
Need soft cutting sorted?
Tell us where you are and what the job is, and we will tell you when we can be there.