Expansion joint cutting for all floors
Expansion joint cutting is one of the many services we provide. Whilst you may have used National Drilling Services for drilling, you may not be aware that we also offer a range of cutting, sawing and demolition services as well. Established across the UK, we are the ‘go to’ provider for many construction companies, who repeatedly use National Drilling Services for developments on sites all around the British Isles.
When it comes to expansion joint cutting we work closely with a number of large floor laying businesses. One of these companies particularly asked to utilise our skills on a project in the Channel Islands. Having said that, whilst we do work with some of the largest floor laying companies in the UK we also provide services to small domestic projects as well.
What kind of floors need expansion joint cutting?
Concrete floors need expansion joint cutting to help prevent cracking and as the name suggests to allow for expansion due to change of temperature or humidity. Our skilled operators have experience cutting expansion joints on all different kinds of concrete floors.
These range from very smooth indoor floors to external transport depots, roadways, car parks as well as warehouses and many more besides. Some of the super flat floors have a particular requirement for very tight tolerances which is where our operators can demonstrate their skill and experience. Expansion joint cutting requires precision and knowledge. The operator making the expansion joint cut will need to consider;
- how deep to make the cut
- how wide the cut needs to be
- how far apart to make the cuts
- how many cuts to create on each floor
The answers to these may well depend on the type of floor and its potential use as well as the atmospherics and exposure to weather or temperature changes.
How important is timing for expansion joint cutting?
Ideally expansion joints should be cut in concrete floors about 24 hours after they have been poured. However sometimes this is not possible. There could be a number of reasons for this. For example there may be access restrictions, temperatures or the atmospherics mean the setting process is delayed or the floor has been poured sometime before our services have been requested.
The concrete will continue to set for many weeks if not months after it is poured. The longer it is left after pouring before the expansion joint is cut, the harder it becomes to cut. However with our specialist cutting tools we can provide expansion joint cutting services even if the concrete floor has set for longer.
Working with floor laying companies allows us to provide expansion joint cutting at the optimum time after the concrete floor has been poured. If you work for a floor laying business or concrete pouring provider or in construction management and you are interested in working with National Drilling Services to optimise your expansion joint cutting do get in touch by calling us on 0161 443 2822. Alternatively you can email us info@national-drilling.co.uk with your project details and schedules. You can also ask us about expansion joint sealing.