National Drilling News

Electric power is what we are all striving towards to help reduce our carbon footprint and bring a halt to climate change. So what has this got to do with concrete floor sawing you may wonder.

Like many of the sawing, cutting and drilling machines used by National Drilling Services, our concrete floor sawing equipment can be powered by 3 phase electric. This method of powering concrete floor sawing can be used where electric power is available, but is currently most commonly used on sites where the work is carried out in an enclosed area, such as a hall or warehouse.

In these situations fumes from petrol or diesel driven engines can be a potential risk to the operator and those working in the vicinity of the concrete floor sawing. In light of the push to eliminate diesel and petrol powered engines, we foresee that we will be relying solely on electric power in the future. Maybe our machines will be solar powered one day instead of having to plug them in though?

When to use concrete floor sawing

It might be obvious that concrete floor sawing machines are used to cut concrete floors. However we still get some questions about why and what kind of floors do National Drilling Services need to cut through, often from people outside the industry of construction and not familiar with site work and concrete floor sawing.

Most of the concrete floor sawing that our operators carry out is in cutting roadways, carriageways, pavements, bridges and concrete slabs. Cuts in these surfaces are needed for a number of reasons;

• Trenching cuts are required for services to be installed, such as gas pipes, electricity cables, water pipes or broadband/telephone cables.
• Jointing cuts are made to allow room for expansion in the surface material, to avoid cracking. Expansion and contraction in the material occurs with changes of temperature and atmospherics
• Demolition cuts are made with our concrete floor sawing machines in order to allow surfaces to be lifted and replaced or removed.
• Concrete floor sawing is also employed for floor chases where we can cut to a depth of up to 500mm.

Why use National Drilling Services for your concrete floor sawing?

National Drilling Services has invested in a range of diamond floor cutting and concrete floor sawing equipment, in various sizes, which means we can carry out concrete floor sawing projects in all kinds of challenging environments. We also work around the clock so we can fit in with your site schedules or access restrictions. Our team of operators are trained and skilled and comply with site health and safety regulations.

To find out more about how National Drilling Services can help on your site with concrete floor sawing or other drilling and cutting services give us a call on 0161 443 2822 or contact us at a local level or by email.

Deadlines and schedules are always on the minds of site foreman, project managers and anyone working in construction management. As we all know time is money, that is why National Drilling Services track wall sawing machines are always in demand. Track wall sawing is not just fast and efficient but creates precise cuts in hard materials such as reinforced concrete and masonry structures.

Often the downside with fast solutions is they are not so accurate, but with our track wall sawing machines this is not the case. As a result we find that we get many requests for repeat business from construction management companies working on different sites across the UK.

Why use track wall sawing?

Apart from being fast, efficient and accurate, track wall sawing is also adaptable to different situations and requirements. The name track ‘wall’ sawing might suggest that this is for making vertical cuts. However this track method of cutting can also be used for horizontal cuts and also for making inverted cuts.

The maximum depth of cuts using the track wall sawing method is 800mm. This is ideal when you need to make new window or vent apertures, cut through walls to create doorways or where flush cutting is needed to create new lift shafts or stairways.

At National Drilling Services we stock a wide variety of sizes of diamond blades from 450mm to an extremely large 2m diameter blade. This means we can provide track wall sawing services in pretty much any situation. In fact there are many applications for track wall sawing.

Using our range of blades the trained and skilled operators of our track wall sawing machines can make angled cuts as well as vertical and horizontal cuts. This is in addition to supporting demolition cutting requirements. Using the latest high powered saws and hydraulic driven machines we can create smooth cuts with high accuracy. The results are always superior to other cutting tools such as stitch drilling and wire sawing.

To discuss your track wall sawing requirements contact our experienced team on 0161 443 2822. We are well established in our field and have been supporting the construction industry for over 3 decades. Many of the contacts we have built up in the industry come back to us again and again as they work on different sites around the UK.

What’s more is they also refer us to their other contacts and sites so our reputation as experts in the field of drilling, cutting, sawing and demolition is perpetuated. For more information see our about us page.

We have all spent the last 3 years waking up to more talk about Brexit in the news, but now that it is actually here what does it mean in reality and is that what we expected?

Whether you personally were a ‘remainer’ or a ‘leave’ voter in the referendum, is now largely irrelevant.  We are now beyond looking back and must look forward to embrace what opportunities we can, following the finalisation of Brexit.  It is too early to know whether Brexit will ultimately benefit the UK economy or not.  Of course the final Brexit date falling within a third lockdown due to the pandemic will further skew the results.  However let’s look at the potential impact on the construction industry, which is where National Drilling Services predominantly works.

 Supply to the Construction Industry

As with many other industries across the nation, there is equipment and parts that are used in the construction processes or for machinery that are either manufactured or distributed from within the European Union (EU).  Unsurprisingly these parts and products have in some cases been delayed since Brexit came into force.  More rigorous checking at customs borders at ports has created some hold ups in supply as well as the increased amount of paperwork required.  Export and import licences as well as declaration forms and altered customs arrangements are just the tip of the iceberg, but how has this affected National Drilling Services in particular?

 Supply from the EU to National Drilling Services

The strong reputation in the UK construction industry for National Drilling Services is built upon providing a reliable and top quality service to the construction companies and contractors for whom we work.  That means our operators respect the site regulations and work closely with the site manager to ensure work is carried out efficiently and safely.  Our team also ensure that we access the construction site at a time to suit the building/demolition schedule, even if that requires our team to be working at night.  It also means we arrive on site with all the appropriate equipment, machinery and parts to facilitate the drilling, sawing or demolition task which we are required to perform.

Brexit causes a delay in supply

It is this last point where we have seen the impact of the restriction of the flow of goods as a result of the implementation of Brexit.  Many drilling and cutting consumables either come from or have to pass through the EU countries before they arrive in the UK.  This is putting pressure on our stock levels of parts such as diamond blades for example.  Without these diamond blades we may be held back in providing our usual fast, efficient and accurate cutting and drilling services. The prompt supply of blades and drill parts are obviously fundamental to us providing our main services, so any issues with supply of these parts impacts heavily on our operation.  Generally we have reasonable stock levels of most of the blades etc that we use, but delays in restocking is causing us concerns in being able to meet schedules and maintain our efficient service.

Supply issues due to Brexit or other reasons?

It is difficult to know for sure how much of these supply concerns are directly due to the impact of increased border restrictions, complex paperwork and import/export licence requirements due to Brexit, or if it is partly due to the Covid 19 pandemic.  Manufacturing and distribution centres worldwide have been forced to either close temporarily (certainly during the first lockdown) or rethink how they work in order to maintain social distancing and keep assembly workers, packers as well as office workers safe.  All this comes at a cost which means there is another knock on affect to National Drilling Services.

 Price increases – a knock on effect

 Although inflation is still relatively low in the UK at under 1%, it has risen repeatedly in the last 6 months. As you can see in the chart published by the Office for National Statistics. The Consumer Price Index is still well under the Bank of England target rate of 2%, but in real terms as a business, the management at National Drilling Services is noticing significant price increases in drilling and cutting parts across the board.  There is only so much additional cost we can absorb before we are forced to increase our rates as well.  Many business which have been forced to close temporarily during lockdown have taken the opportunity on reopening their doors to increase their prices.  As our services have barely stopped apart from at the beginning of the first lockdown and we have so far maintained our prices at the same level as they were this time last year.  However we will have to consider a price increase soon if our costs continue this trend upwards.

Time is money

It may sound like an old cliché but time really is money and on top of the cost increases we have been subjected to, we also have the time cost of sorting out the complex paperwork. We mentioned in passing that there are all kinds of forms which need to be completed and that is once we have established that the business we purchase from has a licence to export to the UK. All these administrative issues have taken considerable time out of our working day when we might otherwise have been focusing on our operations on the ground and talking to our customers.

On a brighter note, we can confirm that all these arrangements are in place and whilst there have been a few teething troubles with supply, we are confident that these will all iron out.  So the good news for our customers is that we will continue to be able to provide the drilling, cutting and demolition services as you would expect from a UK leading supplier.  We look forward to serving the UK construction industry going forwards and continuing to build our relationships with our colleagues in construction.

To discuss your drilling, sawing or demolition requirements you can contact us. Alternatively just pick the phone and call us on 0161 443 2822.