Concrete cutting in Cambridge MA - clean, straight openings in slabs and walls
Need a doorway in a foundation wall or a slab opened for a drain line? We plan the cut and make it clean.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
Can you cut an opening in my concrete slab or wall?
Concrete cutting in Cambridge, MA lets us open a slab or a wall without breaking up the rest of it. We saw straight lines in driveways, patios and floors, cut openings in walls, and core drill round holes for pipe, drain and conduit lines. We're based in Cambridge and work across the cities around it.
Most cutting calls start with some other job. A plumber needs a drain line under the garage floor, one driveway panel has cracked and dropped, or you want a door in a basement wall. The price moves with how thick the concrete is, whether there's steel in it, and whether we're cutting a wall instead of a slab, and on a small cut a minimum charge can matter more than the footage. The schedule turns on what we find inside the concrete and whether the job needs a permit or an engineer first. When I come out, the estimate lists what's included and what isn't, so you see your own number before anything starts.
How do you know when concrete needs to be cut?
One panel cracked or sunk
One section of your driveway or patio has broken or dropped while the rest sits fine, which usually means the ground under that piece settled or washed out. A straight saw cut lets us take out just that panel, and if you wait, the edges keep chipping and water starts working under the good sections next to it.
A new line with nowhere to go
Your plumber or electrician needs to get a pipe, drain or conduit through a slab or a wall. A drilled or sawed opening is clean and sized to the line, while a hole hammered out by hand tends to crack the concrete around it and hold up the other trades.
A basement wall with no door
You want a doorway or a window in a poured foundation wall. That's a structural change because the wall carries the house above it, so it gets checked and planned before anyone brings out a saw.
How we do concrete cutting, and the work that follows
Before we cut, I find out what's inside the slab or wall and whether there's steel or cable to watch for, because rebar, the steel bars that hold a slab together, changes how the cut is made, and some slabs carry cables that are dangerous to hit. Then we mark the lines where you want them, set up the saw that fits the spot and the thickness, and make the cut. Our quote says plainly whether breaking out and hauling the pieces is included, because a cut and a removal are two different jobs and you shouldn't find out which one you bought at the end.
A cut is often the start of something else. Once a broken section is out, we can pour the replacement as part of concrete driveway building, and when an old slab out back is getting a new shape or a drain under it, the cut clears the way for concrete patio construction.
Straight cuts in slabs and floors
A flat saw rolls along a driveway, patio or garage floor and makes long, straight cuts, so it's the tool for taking out a panel or opening a trench for a line. Hand saws reach the tight corners and small openings a flat saw can't get into.
Openings in walls and holes for lines
Wall saws run on a track mounted to the wall for doorways and window openings, and wire saws take on sections that are thick or heavy with steel. For a pipe, drain or conduit, core drilling makes a clean round hole sized to the line.
Get a free on-site estimate for your concrete cut
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day. I'll come out, measure the cut and write an estimate that lists what's included and what isn't, with no obligation to go ahead.
(617) 613-6953- Based in
- Cambridge, MA 02139
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 7 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call us about a concrete cut?
Here's how a cutting job runs from your side, from the first call to the day we clean up.
Call or send a message
Call (617) 613-6953 or use the contact form, and tell us where the cut is, how long it runs and what it's for. That way I show up knowing what to look at.
I come out and measure
I measure, look at what's in the slab or wall and ask what you need. You get a written estimate that says what's included and what isn't, so you know what you're paying for before we start.
We cut and clean up
Once you're ready, we sort out any permit, plan around the weather, make the cut and clean up the site. Cambridge allows no construction noise you can hear 50 feet past the lot line from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays, or until 9 a.m. on Saturdays and holidays, and Sunday work needs the Police Department's approval, so we book saw time inside those hours.
Why Cambridge homeowners call M&K Cambridge Concrete Company for cutting
Licensed and insured in Massachusetts
We're fully licensed and insured. Massachusetts requires anyone who bids on or does work on an owner-occupied home of one to four units to be registered as a Home Improvement Contractor, so it's a fair question to ask any cutter you're comparing.
The owner at every estimate
I come out for every estimate, and I'm on site with our crew while the work gets done. The person who checked what's inside your slab is the one standing next to the saw.
Running our own jobs since 2023
I learned this trade setting forms and pushing wheelbarrows on a small crew before I opened the business in Cambridge in 2023. Three years in, I still take the extra look instead of guessing, because a cut can't be put back.
On a cut, the important work happens before the blade touches concrete, so send us the details and I'll come take a look.
Concrete cutting, permits and site work in Cambridge
In Cambridge, the Inspectional Services Department issues building permits to construct, alter, repair or demolish a structure, and ordinary repairs under the Building Code don't need one. Whether your cut needs a permit depends on what it does to the house, so we check each job with the city's building office, and when a permit applies we take it out ourselves as your contractor and keep it posted at the job site. A homeowner working on a one or two unit house they live in, or plan to, can also apply for the building permit themselves.
We cut a lot in older basements and on narrow lots where the driveway runs right up to the neighbor's side, so we plan where the saw sets up and how the pieces come out before the first line is marked. We see the same tight conditions on jobs in Somerville and Arlington.
Questions about concrete cutting in Cambridge
How much does concrete cutting cost in Cambridge?
Professional slab saw cutting across the US usually runs about $4 to $15 per linear foot, and that covers the sawing alone. Breaking, hauling and disposal can add more than the cut itself, so compare quotes on whether removal is in them. Our estimate lists the work included and anything that isn't, so you can line it up against other quotes.
Can a doorway be cut into a poured concrete foundation wall?
Yes, but it's a structural change that gets planned before anything else. One cutting guide explains that the opening moves the weight above onto the concrete left at its corners, and it advises having an engineer size the lintel, the beam that carries that load over the opening, unless the building department explicitly accepts a pre-engineered one. We'll walk through it at the estimate.
How do I know if my slab has post-tension cables in it?
You find out from drawings and scanning before anyone cuts, and in some buildings that means bringing in an engineer before work starts. Post-tension cables are steel strands held under high stored tension inside the slab, so in those buildings that check comes first.
What causes a concrete slab to crack in random spots?
Usually it's control joints that were cut too late or skipped. Concrete shrinks as it cures, the wait while it hardens, and a joint sawed in on time gives the crack a straight line to follow instead of letting it pick its own path across the slab.
Can concrete be cut inside a basement without filling the house with fumes and dust?
Yes, with the right saw. One sawing standard says engine-powered saws used on interior walls or slabs need ventilation that meets OSHA standards, and electric, hydraulic or air-powered saws are the other options indoors. OSHA's rule for handheld power saws calls for water fed to the blade, so it's worth asking any crew whether theirs do.
Can you cut out just one cracked section of my driveway?
Usually, yes. We saw straight lines around the bad panel, take it out and pour a new piece, which saves tearing out a driveway that's sound everywhere else. If the ground under it washed out, we dig out and pack the base before the pour, because a new panel on soft dirt settles the same way the old one did.
Concrete work that often follows a cut
Concrete driveway building
When a sawed-out section leaves a gap, or the old driveway is past patching, a new pour on a dug-out and packed base is the next step.
Concrete patio construction
If you're cutting an old patio to reshape it or run a line underneath, we can pour the new surface so water runs away from the house.
Service areas for concrete cutting around Cambridge
M&K Cambridge Concrete Company is based in Cambridge, MA, and we take concrete cutting jobs across the cities around it. The 12 areas below each have their own page, including Watertown and Medford, and they aren't the only places we work.
Cambridge, MA
Call or write to plan your cut
Photos of the spot and any old drawings of the house help me check for steel and cables before I bring a saw.