Cutting Footing In Basement Slab-Gas Or No Gas

highpeaks

I have to cut an 18" x 10' section of a 4" slab to pour a continuous footing for a bearing wall. My only tools at my disposal are a circular saw with a diamond blade, a Stihl TS420 Concrete Saw, and a Bulldog hammer.

I would love to use the Stihl, but I don't want to die in the middle of the project. Are there any safe ways to use gas power tools indoors? Or am I flirting with death?

What suggestions are out there?

AtlRemodeling

I've cut basement slabs with a cut off saw several times (gas powered), just make sure you open any windows/doors you can and run a fan to get some air movement.

Of course, if your stihl does not have a hose attachment or if you use the circular saw, your going to choke on the dust so make sure you have a good mask.

Winchester

You can rent an electric one. I can rent one for a few hours and it only costs me like $20 or so.

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Ryan

NJ Brickie

Just as ALT said ventilation is important. I just wanted to add that if your saw does not have a water hookup you can still cut wet. I have done this many times while cutting inside. Take a plastic water/soda bottle and punch a hole through the cap with a nail. Have a helper stand back and squirt the blade with water while cutting. If you have alot of cutting to do it helps to fill more then one bottle at a time so you don't have to stop cutting while the bottle is refilled. I would not cut inside with out water.

highpeaks

How much ventilation is enough? The basement is unfinished. Approx 2500 square feet.. Three small basement windows. With proper ventilation, how long would it take for the CO to disipate? I think the homeowner has two dogs in the house. Any worry about hurting them with CO while cutting?
How long do you think cut should take?

The saw has a hose attachment with a valve. It works great cutting down on the dust.

Warren

Rent the electric jackhammer.I have done it many different ways and notheing compares to that.

NJ Brickie

The cutting should take about 10-20 minutes if you have a good blade and have done this before. I am not a vet so I can't say about the dogs. Open all 3 windows and place fans to get the best circulation going. If you are still worried about the CO2 then take a break or lunch after making the cuts. If the exhaust smell is gone you should be ok. Always cut wet if you can, not just for you but the clean up will be much easier.

tgeb

Don't use the gas powered saw indoors. The smell will get into the rest of the house, HO will be pissed.*

Use electric or air. Something that small, what I have done before is to break it out with a jackhammer.
Then before doing the patch, clean up the edges of the cut with the circle saw and diamond blade.

* Happened to us and we where cutting from the outside.

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Tom

www.gebcon.com

Chris Johnson

Assuming there is some form of floor covering going in down the road, I would just use an electric jackhammer and break it out, who cares of the edges aren't clean cut?

Nothing worse than a pissed off customer the next morning when you show up and they couldn't sleep the night before since there was fumes, dust and everything else floating throughout the whole house...which will be there for months to come...

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Chris

dakzaag

Use the Stihl, if we never hear from you again we will all know not to run a gas cut off saw in the basement.

On a more serious note, what ever you do, control the dust, or you will be cleaning the whole house multiple times. Don't ask me why I know this...

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D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

NJ Brickie

The OP asked for solutions with the tools he has, so that's what i gave him. But if I was doing the job I would cut the slab with an electric demo saw wet. No exhaust and little dust. I have cut this way hundreds of times in finished buildings with no problems. Just be careful to keep the water on the blade and not the saw.

highpeaks

Putting aside the dirt/dust.smell factor, how safe or unsafe is running a gas power saw indoors? Does anyone do it or would I be crazy to do it?

Chris Johnson

If you are in an underground parking garage I would say running a gas powered saw would be okay, in someones confined basement without proper venting I would say your not okay.

Lets see what Mr. OSHA has to say...

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Chris

masonking02

use the gas saw keep water on the blade too keep down the dust open windows and run a fan for ventulation

jomama

DO NOT USE THE GAS SAW! Trust me, I do this several times a year. I thought I killed a 80 plus YO person about 6-7 years ago. I told them to leave the house for a while because I was going to saw with gas in the basement. I came back thru the house about 45 mins later to find him sleeping on the couch with the CO2 detector going off! We made some more noise, Thank God he woke up! Since that day, I only saw with electric inside a residence. I own one, but you can find them for rent easily. BTW, when I had my dog in the shop with me when I wasusing unvented heat, she puked once. I figuered the CO2 was settling to the floor, & she was more vulnerable to it than a human. So, unless it's worth risking the HO pet's health, not to mention your health, & an odor that could take hours to get rid of, use electric.

highpeaks

jomama, I took your advice and purchased a Makita Angle Grinder with a 14" diamond blade. It has a vacume port to help with the dust. I also use a vacume adapter on my zip-wall setup. Aside from the obvious, any issues with using a little water during the cut to help with the dust?

jomama

Highpeaks,
Never had a problem with using water & elsctric saw. We use quite a bit of water also. I would think about using a pump sprayer with a bigger tip (1 gpm+ or drill a small hole in it) and keep it spraying where the front of the blade enters the slab. We usually use 3 people to do this. 1 sawing, 1 spraying water, & 1 vaucumning the sludge if there valueables close. Also remember:
- Plug into a 20 circuit & use the best cord you have or you'll get frustrated quickly.
- Use a ton of water (or hook vac to zipwall) for first inch of cut.
- Step-cut the slab, about 1" or so & start over at the begining of cut.
- Put cardboard up against anything that may get "roostertailed" with sludge.
- Keep your saw plug out of the water.

I've never been electricuted doing this. I've also never used a Zipwall. With it, the homeowners should never even know you were there!

Rockmonster

CS Unitec makes a really nice slab saw that runs on air....they may be difficult to find as a rental, but I've used mine numerous times because of these concerns.....it does however sound like a jet engine from 3 feet away.....

Tinstaafl

Just a ditto to comments above, I've used a gas saw (wet; you definitely don't want to saw dry) in a poorly ventilated basement more than once. You probably won't die because you'll choke on the non-carbon monoxide fumes and take a break before that happens. But even with closed doors, you'll set off the CO detector on the second floor.

Keep a couple of canaries nearby, and check on them every couple of minutes.