We were contracted by a new client to work on their project transforming an old bank into a new pizza restaurant in Stockton Heath, Warrington. To fit the desired concept for the design of the restaurant, we were required to create an opening in a suspended concrete slab. This two-way concrete slab was suspended between the ground and the floor, and the opening was needed to create an upstairs seating area for customers to maximise the usage of space in the building.
Having a suspended concrete slab as part of your structure can be extremely beneficial, and boasts advantages of further thermal insulation and noise reduction. However, it is likely that for access purposes openings will need to be made in the suspended slabs. This can be risky when the main construction of the building is already complete, as was the case with this project. One of the main things to avoid is cutting through any critical reinforcements that are required to maintain the structural integrity of the building. This could pose serious safety and construction hazards.
With this in mind, the safety of the team and the other contractors working on the building was of extreme importance. To ensure the safety of the team, we propped up the suspended slab with extra support to prevent any of us from falling through the opening whilst working. We also opted to work throughout the night to avoid other contractors working on the building, so that we knew the below area was clear should any falling debris occur.
We knew that our clients needed the opening to be precise and clean-cut, so we used a combination of our diamond drilling and floor sawing services to achieve the desired look and measurements for the space.
Prior to the floor sawing that would cut the majority of the opening, we used diamond pilot and core drilling to prevent overcutting. Pilot drilling allowed us to create initial shallow holes in the concrete surface to mark lines where the structural beams lay below. This process was to ensure the safety of everyone involved and also to maintain the structural integrity of the building by avoiding cutting through any of the essential reinforcements of the building.
Core drilling was then used in the corners of the opening to make sure that when we began to saw through the concrete there would be no over-cutting.
After the initial drilling to mark the space that needed to be cut, we moved to floor sawing. Using our floor saw and diamond-tipped blade, we cut the concrete slab into smaller, more manageable pieces before dropping them safely onto the tires below. This was then removed from the building the following day when the skip arrived.
We used water during both the drilling and sawing processes to reduce the amount of friction and dust produced by our work.
Throughout our work at Rudy’s Pizza, we prioritised safety and cleanliness for our clients and other tradespeople by working overnight to avoid any potential hazards. Our client was pleased with our productivity and the outcome of our work.
