Concrete cutting in Covina CA - straight cuts, scanned first, cleaned up after
Need a piece out of your driveway, a trench through the patio or an opening in a wall? We cut it straight and clean up.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What does concrete cutting involve, and when do you need it?
The short answer: Concrete cutting in Covina is how we take a section out of a driveway, sidewalk, patio or garage floor, or open up a wall, using a diamond-blade saw that makes a straight, controlled cut instead of a ragged break.
Most calls start with something that has to come out or go through: a broken section of driveway, a trench for a plumber, or a new opening in a wall. The price moves with how long and how deep the cut is, how much steel is inside the slab and how hard the spot is to reach with the saw. The schedule mostly turns on getting the slab scanned and on whether the city has to sign off first. Your own number comes in a written estimate that lists what's included.
How do you know your concrete needs cutting?
One cracked, sunken section
One panel of your driveway or walk has dropped or split while the rest sits fine. That usually means the dirt under that piece settled, and if you wait, the raised edge becomes a trip hazard and water starts getting under the panels next to it.
A leak under the slab
Your plumber has found a leak or a backed-up drain under the garage floor or patio. A saw cut opens only the strip they need, while breaking through with a jackhammer tends to crack the slab well past the trench, and every week the leak runs softens the ground the slab rests on.
A wall with no opening
You want a door or window where there's solid concrete, often in a garage or a lower-level room. A saw cut leaves square edges a framer can work with, and it's worth planning before the door or window gets ordered so the opening fits.
How we handle concrete cutting
We start by marking the cut lines with you, then have the slab scanned before we core or cut so we know where the steel, cables and conduit are. On floors, driveways and walks the cut is made with a walk-behind saw on a diamond blade, set to the depth of the slab. The saw runs wet to keep the dust down, so we contain the slurry, the gray mud the water and cuttings make, and clean up the work area when we're done. What you're left with is a straight, clean edge for whatever goes in next.
A cut is often the first half of the job. When a cracked section comes out of a driveway, the new panel is concrete driveway building work, and we pour it the way we'd pour a whole driveway. A trench cut through a patio for a drain line gets patched to match, or it becomes the start of new concrete patio construction if the old slab is past saving.
Flat sawing for slabs
This is the walk-behind saw for driveways, patios, walks and garage floors, and it suits most homeowner jobs, from pulling one panel to opening a trench. It cuts straight lines at a set depth, so the edges are ready for new concrete.
Wall sawing and core drilling
A track-mounted wall saw rides a rail fixed to the wall, which is how a door or window opening in a concrete wall gets cut square. Core drilling makes round holes for pipes, vents and conduit, so it suits jobs where you need a hole rather than a whole section.
What happens after you call us about a cut?
Here's how a cutting job goes with us, from the first call to the final walk-through. I'm the one who comes out, and you know what's included before any work is scheduled.
- Step 01
Call and describe the cut
You call, and we talk through what needs cutting, where it is and what goes in afterward. It helps to know the surface and roughly how big the cut is.
- Step 02
I come out and measure
I look at the slab or wall, measure the cut and check how the saw will reach it. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, so you know what the price covers before you decide.
- Step 03
Permits first, then the cut
If the job needs a permit, we take care of it before anything gets scheduled. Then our crew makes the cut, and if new concrete goes in afterward, I'm there on pour day.
- Step 04
Walk the finished job together
When the work's done, we walk it with you, edges and cleanup included, before we call it finished. If something isn't right, that's when we want to hear it.
Concrete cutting near the street in Covina
If your cut touches the city's right of way, the public land along the street, Covina requires an encroachment permit first, and the City Engineer reviews the application through the city's Engineering Division. Sidewalk or curb concrete that comes out there has to be saw cut and replaced to match the existing color, finish and scoring lines, so we set the cut lines with that match in mind. Widening, rebuilding, removing or adding a driveway approach, the stretch where your driveway meets the street, goes through the same process, and removing or adding one needs Planning Division approval before that. When a job needs a permit, we pull it as the licensed contractor and set up the inspections.
Away from the street, most of what we cut here is driveways, patios and garage floors on older houses, and the thickness and steel change from one house to the next, which is why we don't guess. We see the same mix on jobs in West Covina and Glendora.
Get a written estimate for your concrete cut
We get back to you within one business day, and I come out to measure and give you a free written estimate with no obligation. It helps to send the address, the surface you need cut and roughly how big the cut is.
Why Covina homeowners call Covina Concrete
I write every estimate myself
I come out, look at the job and write the estimate, and a crew I've worked with for years does the forming, pouring and finishing. The person pricing your cut has actually stood over your slab.
In concrete since 2013
I ran a landscape installation business first and learned concrete from the finishers I was hiring, then switched over full time in 2013. That's 13 years of seeing what's under slabs once they're opened up.
City or county, checked first
Covina's building office only handles addresses inside the city, and some homes with a Covina address fall under the county instead. We check which one yours is before anything else, because that decides which office we work with.
Fully licensed and insured
We're fully licensed and insured, so the company with a saw on your property carries the coverage for that work. It's a fair thing to ask any cutter before you hire them.
On a cut, most of the work that counts happens before the saw starts. Call (626) 412-8840 or ask for an estimate.
Concrete cutting questions from Covina homeowners
How much does concrete cutting cost in Covina?
Professional concrete cutting across the US usually costs about $3 to $10 per linear foot of cut, so treat that as a national figure, not a Covina quote. Thick slabs, heavy steel and wall cuts push a job toward the high end. We measure your cut on site and put your price in a written estimate.
Do I need a permit to cut concrete in Covina?
If the cut alters or removes part of a building or structure, like a new opening in a wall, it falls under the permits Covina's Building Official issues. The city's list of work that doesn't need a building permit names flatwork, meaning driveways, patios and walks on the ground, but only with Planning Division approval, and cuts along the street need the encroachment permit covered above. We check which of these applies to your cut at the estimate.
Why scan a concrete slab before cutting or coring?
Scanning shows what's buried in the slab before the blade goes in, usually with ground penetrating radar run over the surface. It finds steel bars, conduit, hollow spots and post-tension tendons, which are steel cables pulled tight inside some slabs, and cutting a tendon or a live conduit is a safety and structural problem. On a structural slab, one field guide says the building's engineer and the drawings decide where a cut can go.
Who is licensed to saw concrete in California?
The Contractors State License Board describes a concrete related services contractor as one who does concrete sawing, breaking and coring. Before you hire anyone for a cut, ask which license class covers your job.
How do I replace one cracked section of my concrete driveway?
You cut that section out along straight lines, take the old concrete out and pour a new panel against the clean edges, so the rest of the driveway stays put. The cut usually follows the existing control joints, the grooves cut into a slab so it cracks there instead of at random, which keeps the new panel lined up with the old ones.
What causes a new concrete section to crack like the old one?
Usually it's the subgrade, the dirt and base the slab sits on, or joints that were cut late or skipped. If the base is raked level instead of dug out and packed, the new panel settles with the dirt and cracks the same way the old one did. That's why I'd rather spend your budget on the base than the finish, because nobody sees the base on pour day and it decides whether the slab lasts.
Concrete work that often follows a cut
Concrete driveway building
If a cut leaves a gap in your driveway, the new section gets poured on a packed base so it sits even with the panels beside it.
Concrete patio construction
When a trench or a cracked corner leaves your patio patched and uneven, pouring a new slab can make more sense than another repair.
Get your concrete cut scanned and priced
Booking the cut before the plumber or framer arrives keeps the rest of your project from waiting on the saw.