Straight kerfs, square corners, published feet
Sawing is the workhorse half of the trade: trench cuts so plumbers can dig, slab sections lifted out for demo, wall openings where doors and ducts are going. It prices by the foot on the published sheet, $6 to $12 per linear foot on typical slabs, trench packages at $800 to $2,500 and wall openings at $1,500 to $3,500, and it gets cut wet, contained and square.
Flat sawing: the trench and the section
Most flat-saw days are trench cuts, two parallel kerfs so a plumber’s line or an electrician’s duct bank can go in, and section removals, a failed patch of slab cut free so the new pour has clean, sound edges. Depth and steel set the per-foot price: interior office slab saws fast, the eight inch dock slabs of Pearl and the shop floors along Richland’s Highway 49 strip earn the top of the band. The quote names the depth assumption, which is why the tape-measure photo matters.
Wall sawing: openings made on purpose
Wall saws cut what handheld saws cannot: full-depth openings in poured and block walls with edges straight enough to frame against. Door and window openings run as packaged jobs, duct and pass-through chases price by the foot and demolition-prep sectioning turns a structure into liftable pieces on the rigger’s schedule. Jackson Concrete Cutting cuts to the engineer’s drawing with temporary support where the plan calls for it, documents the as-cut dimensions and hands the opening to the framer square, plumb and ready.
Sawing questions, answered
How deep can a slab saw actually cut?
Standard flat sawing covers the common commercial range, and staged passes push deeper; genuinely massive sections, thick foundations, piers, bridge-class concrete, move to wire sawing, quoted per project at $2,500 to $10,000 and up. The measurement decides, and we say plainly when a job crosses into the heavy setup.
Will sawing crack the slab I want to keep?
No, and that is the craft: a diamond saw removes material in a controlled kerf without shocking the surrounding concrete, which is exactly why demolition-prep uses saws before breakers. The cut edge stays sound for the patch-back, and corners get finished square so the joint does not become a crack starter.
Can a wall opening be cut without wrecking the room behind it?
Yes. Wall saws track on rails bolted to the wall, cuts run wet with the water managed on both faces and the cut section gets braced and lowered, not dropped. Openings for doors, windows and duct chases are the trade's bread and butter at $1,500 to $3,500.
Who handles the structural question on a wall opening?
The engineer or GC does, and honest cutters stay in their lane: we cut what the drawing shows after someone qualified has said the wall can lose that section, with temporary support in place where the plan calls for it. A cutter who freelances structural decisions is a hazard, and we decline that role every time.
Get the per-foot truth for your cut
Length, depth at a joint and photos of the marked run. The written number comes back off the public sheet.