Expansion Joint CuttingBendigo
Cut in the green zone, before the slab decides for itself where it is going to crack.
- 24/7Every day, all year
- 20+ yrsCommercial / Civil
- CSDAAMember and insured
- 4.9 starsFrom 16 reviews
Concrete cracks. Joints decide where
Every slab shrinks as it cures and every slab cracks. A control joint is simply a weakened line that gives the crack somewhere sensible to go, so it happens underneath a straight saw cut instead of wandering diagonally across the middle of a new floor.
The timing is the whole trick. Cut too early and the aggregate ravels along the edge. Cut too late and the slab has already cracked where it wanted to. We use a Soff-Cut Ultra early entry system, which dry cuts in the green zone within a couple of hours of the pour, well before conventional wet sawing could touch it.
It is a dry cut with an anti ravel skid plate, which means no slurry across a fresh slab and no water washing into a floor that is still curing. On a big pour we work with the concreters through the night so the joints go in on time rather than the next morning, which is usually too late.
What turns up
- System
- Soff-Cut Ultra
- Timing
- Early entry, green zone
- Method
- Dry cut, no slurry
- Edge
- Anti ravel skid plate
- Works with
- The pour, on the night
- Availability
- 24/7, 365
The pours that need joints on time
Anything large, anything visible and anything that will carry a floor covering later. Which is most of it.
Warehouse and factory floors
Large area pours where uncontrolled cracking ruins both the look and the serviceability of the slab.
Carparks and hardstand
External slabs that move with temperature as well as shrinkage, and need joints set out to a proper grid.
Driveways and paths
Residential and commercial flatwork where a random crack across the front of a new house is the first thing anyone sees.
Slabs to be polished
Floors heading for a polished or exposed finish, where a shrinkage crack cannot be hidden under anything.
Retrofit joints
Cutting joints into cured slabs that never got any, using the floor saw rather than an early entry machine.
Joint re cuts and repairs
Widening, cleaning out and re cutting failed joints so they can be sealed properly.
Expansion joint cutting Bendigo concreters book around a pour
This is the one service where the concrete decides when we turn up, not the diary. Control joints have to go in while the slab is green, so an expansion joint cutting booking in Bendigo is made against a pour date and it regularly runs into the evening.
Soff-Cut Ultra is what makes that possible. It dry cuts within a couple of hours of the finish, well before a conventional wet saw could get anywhere near the slab, and the skid plate holds the surface together at the blade so the edge does not ravel.
Get the timing wrong and the slab tells everybody about it. A shrinkage crack across a new Bendigo warehouse floor or a residential driveway is permanent, obvious, and impossible to argue away afterwards.
Often on the same job
- Road Sawing Bendigo On a cured slab that never got joints, the floor saw retro cuts them.
- Polished Concrete Bendigo A floor heading for a polished finish cannot hide a shrinkage crack.
Expansion Joint Cutting across the region
Bendigo is the base, but the truck is on the road most days. Same gear, same crew, same hours, right across central Victoria and southern New South Wales.
Bendigo
VICEaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat, Strathfieldsaye, Huntly, Epsom
Echuca
VICMoama, Rochester, Kyabram, Lockington
Swan Hill
VICKerang, Cohuna, Robinvale, Nyah
Shepparton
VICMooroopna, Tatura, Numurkah, Nagambie
Seymour
VICNagambie, Broadford, Euroa, Kilmore, Heathcote, Puckapunyal
Deniliquin
NSWFinley, Barham, Tocumwal, Jerilderie, Hay
Asked often
When should control joints be cut?
As soon as the slab will hold an edge, which with an early entry system is usually within a couple of hours of finishing. Waiting until the next day is how slabs end up cracking before anybody has cut a joint into them.
What is early entry cutting?
A dry cut system, in our case Soff-Cut Ultra, designed to cut while the concrete is still green. A skid plate supports the slab surface at the blade so the edge does not ravel, which is what stops a conventional saw going in that early.
How deep do the joints go?
Deep enough to create the weakened plane the slab will crack along, set against the slab thickness. We cut to the engineer or the specification where there is one, and to standard practice where there is not.
Will it make a mess of a fresh slab?
No. It is a dry cut, so there is no slurry washing across a floor that is still curing. That is a large part of why early entry is used on slabs heading for a polished or exposed finish.
Can you cut joints into an existing slab?
Yes, but it is a different job. On a cured slab we use the floor saw rather than the early entry machine. It works, though it will not undo cracking that has already happened.
Will you come out at night for a pour?
Yes. Joint timing is set by the concrete, not by the clock, so most early entry work happens in the evening or overnight. We run 24 hours a day for exactly this kind of job.
When is the pour
Give us the pour date, the area and the joint layout if you have one. Early entry work is booked around your concreter, including overnight.