Putting in a Swimming Pool for Triathlon Training – Concrete Removal

Every day I become more fascinated with power tools … but preferably having someone else operate them.  Like today – I got to get close to an 8 inch concrete saw.  Okay, I was standing behind a closed patio door 20 feet away, but that was close enough.  It was being run by a nice man from A-Core, Inc., concrete cutting specialists.

Part of our swimming pool preparation includes needing to put our electrical service underground.  For this, part of our patio was scheduled to be cut out.  Hence, the big saws which would have surely carried me off across the yard had I turned them on.

Yet, the A-Core man handled them with impressive precision.

• First, he carefully measured exactly where the cutting lines were.
• Next, he applied a clear spray paint to make sure they didn’t get washed away by all the water.  He said hair spray works, too!
• Then, he asked me if I wanted some earplugs, which is when I stepped inside the house.

He worked that saw like a fine tip brush.  It never jumped or skipped, which I fully expected.  I could only barely tell when the saw made it past the 5 inches of butter patio concrete.

When he needed to get closer to the house, he would flip the saw around so that the guard was between it and the brick house.  All those hoses and he never sliced one of them.

For the final cuts near the house, he switched to his 10 inch circle saw. It can cut more deeply, but is primarily used to finish off the cuts.

The grid of cut blocks was then ready to be pulled out. The diagonal line in the very center block was just deep enough to hammer his wedge into. He did that and lifted the block out so quickly I gasped! (while snapping a photo, of course)  It’s all evidence that it is worth paying for someone who knows how to do a thing safely and efficiently.

I asked that he leave the concrete blocks, since I can never tell what my husband will do with such things. Who knows, maybe I’ll even use them in a garden path?  

Now, we are ready for the step of placing the conduit for the electrical service underground.  That begins tomorrow.