Concrete cutting in Sunnyvale CA - straight cuts planned around what's inside
Need a slab section, a driveway trench or a wall opening cut? We make straight, clean cuts and check what's inside first.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What does a concrete cutting job involve?
Concrete cutting in Sunnyvale, CA means sawing a straight, controlled line through a driveway, patio, sidewalk, floor or wall, so a broken section can come out, a pipe can go under or a door can go in without cracking the concrete you're keeping.
Most folks who call me are partway into a bigger plan, like a driveway with one sunken stretch, a sewer line that has to run under the patio or a garage wall that needs a door. The price moves with how thick the concrete is, how many feet you need cut, whether rebar, the steel bars that hold a slab together, runs through it, and how easy it is to get a saw in there. The schedule mostly turns on what the city asks for and what we learn about the slab first, and I'll put your own price in writing after I've seen it.
How do you know a slab or wall needs cutting?
A sunken or broken section
When one piece of a driveway or walk has dropped or broken up, it usually means the dirt underneath settled or a root pushed it, and the rest of the slab is still sound. A straight cut around the bad part lets us replace only that, and waiting usually means the broken edge keeps chipping back and the patch gets bigger.
Water sitting against the house
If rain pools at your foundation, the slab beside it usually tips toward the house instead of away, and that water ends up under the slab or along the wall. Cutting out the bad run lets the new piece be poured to fall the right way, and every rainy season you wait is more water where you don't want it.
A project that runs into concrete
A new door, a drain line, a wider driveway or an addition often stops at a slab or wall that's in the way. That's a cutting job before it's anything else, so planning it early keeps the rest of your project from sitting and waiting on it.
How we handle concrete cutting
Before anybody fires up a saw, I find out what's inside the slab or wall, so if you have plans of the house, the slab or the wall, pull them out for my visit. Rebar, a buried pipe or an electrical line can sit right where you want the cut, and I'd rather ask you plenty of questions than guess. Once we know, we mark the lines and tell you up front whether the cut will be wet or dry and how we'll collect what it leaves behind, then we cut, break out the pieces, haul them off and leave clean edges for whatever comes next.
Most cuts are the first half of a job, and the second half is a pour. When a bad section comes out of a driveway, we rebuild it as part of our concrete driveway building work, and when you're cutting back or reshaping a backyard slab, the new pour falls under concrete patio construction. If the budget gets tight there, I'll tell you to spend it on the subgrade, the dug-out and packed dirt and gravel the new piece sits on, before a fancy finish, because a pretty top on a raked-flat base sinks away from the clean edge we just cut.
Taking out a damaged section
This suits a driveway, walk or patio where one area sank or broke and the rest is fine. A sawed line around it means we only replace what failed, and the new concrete has a straight, solid edge to meet.
Trenching for pipes and lines
When a sewer, drain or electrical line has to run under a slab, we cut two parallel lines and break out the strip between them. That keeps the damage to a narrow band, and it pours back much neater than a hole broken out by hand.
Openings in walls
This is for a new door, window or pass-through in a foundation or retaining wall, where the cut has to be square and controlled. It's the job where your plans matter most, because the steel in a wall is doing real work and nobody wants to find it with the blade.
Get a free estimate for your concrete cutting job
Send the surface, how many feet you need cut and any plans you have. We get back to you within one business day, then I come out, look it over and write you a free estimate with no obligation.
- Based in
- Sunnyvale, CA 94087
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about concrete cutting?
Here's how a cutting job runs from your first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
You reach us at (669) 348-0343 or through the form, and I'll ask what's being cut and how you'll use the space afterward. Knowing the surface and roughly how many feet helps me show up with the right questions.
I look at the site
I come out myself, check what's likely inside the slab or wall and talk through your choices with you. You get a written estimate that spells out the cut, wet or dry, and how we'll clean up, so the price isn't a guess.
We check with the city
Before anything goes on the schedule, we check with the city on what your project needs. If it calls for a permit, we take care of it before the saw shows up.
Our crew cuts, then we walk it
Our own crew runs the saw with me checking in, collects the slurry or dust the way we told you and hauls off the pieces. Then we walk the finished job with you and go over how to look after it.
Why Sunnyvale homeowners call Vertex Sunnyvale Concrete for cutting
The owner writes your estimate
I come out myself to look at the site and write the estimate, and I'm on site checking while our own crew does the cutting. You won't get handed off to someone who never saw your slab.
Learned concrete on a city crew
I poured sidewalks and curbs and fixed what tree roots had broken before I started this business in Sunnyvale in 2013. That's where I learned that what's under and inside a slab matters more than the top.
Licensed and insured in California
The state's contractor license board lists concrete sawing, breaking and coring as concrete related services work, so it's fair to ask any crew about their license before they cut. Ask about insurance too, because a saw running near your house, pipes and wiring is no place for an uninsured crew.
Gather any plans you have of the slab or wall and tell us about the cut you need, and I'll set a time to come take a look. Every job we do is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Concrete cutting and the pours around it in Sunnyvale
Whether your cut needs a permit depends on the project, and the city decides that through its One-Stop Permit Center at City Hall, which reviews building plans. We check with them before we schedule anything, and if a permit is called for, we pull it, handle the paperwork and meet the inspector on site.
Around here the storm drain at the curb runs straight to local creeks and San Francisco Bay with no treatment, so cutting water that slips into one ends up in the Bay. That's why, on any wet cut near the street, we protect the drain inlet before the saw starts, the way local stormwater practices for roadwork crews call for, and keep the slurry on our side of the curb. A lot of driveways here are older ones lifted by tree roots and sloped right to the gutter, and we see the same thing on jobs in Santa Clara and Mountain View.
Questions about concrete cutting in Sunnyvale
What is the best way to cut a doorway in a foundation wall?
Wall sawing is the standard way to cut a doorway or window opening in a foundation wall, because it makes a straight, controlled cut through the wall. Floors, driveways, sidewalks and pavement get flat sawing instead, which is the most common method, so the surface you're cutting decides the method.
Will my concrete cutting job be wet or dry, and where does the slurry go?
Most flat and wall sawing is done wet, with water running over the blade so the cuttings turn into slurry, a gray mud, instead of dust. Dry cutting with a vacuum is for spots where water won't work, like some indoor cuts near finished floors or walls. Either way, local stormwater practice is to vacuum, shovel or soak up the slurry, and we keep it out of the curb drain we talked about above.
How much does concrete cutting cost per linear foot?
Professional concrete cutting across the US usually costs about $3 to $10 per linear foot, and that's a national figure, not our price. Thick concrete, steel inside and tight spots tend to push a job toward the high end, and your own number comes in the written estimate after I've seen the site.
Who do I call at the City of Sunnyvale about my concrete cutting project?
Call the city's One-Stop Permit Center at City Hall, and first-time applicants can call to learn what their project needs. The city says every project has different requirements, and staff there explain the process, the documents you'll need and whether your project will require plan review.
What should I ask a contractor before they cut concrete at my house?
Ask how their plan deals with whatever might be buried in the slab or wall, like steel, pipes or conduit, and what they need from you to cut safely. One contractor's guide names cutting blind as the usual way these jobs go wrong, so a crew that asks you nothing is a warning sign.
How long does it take before I can use my driveway after concrete cutting?
The cut itself won't keep you off the driveway for long, but if a section comes out and gets repoured, you're waiting on curing, the time new concrete needs to harden before it can take a car. I'll tell you at the estimate how long you'll be parking on the street, since it depends on the size of the piece and the weather.
Related services that often follow a cut
Concrete driveway building
If the cut takes out a broken or sunken piece, your driveway needs a new section poured on a packed base so it meets the old concrete level.
Concrete patio construction
When you're reshaping a backyard slab or adding onto one, a new pour that's sloped away from the house finishes what the saw started.
Service areas for our concrete cutting work
Vertex Sunnyvale Concrete is based in Sunnyvale, CA, and we cut and pour concrete across the city and the cities around it. The 12 areas below each have their own page, from Cupertino to Milpitas, and they aren't the only places we work.
Get your concrete cut planned right
Call (669) 348-0343 any day from early morning until 11 PM, and have the surface, the length of cut in feet and any plans handy so my first visit gets straight to where the line can go.