How to use a Saw Guide for Precision Vertical Concrete Cutting

On one particular concrete tilt up building the crew forgot to set a couple of decorative chamfer grooves on a wall panel and it wasn't noticed until all the building panels were standing and welded together. This is a difficult repair job when the panels are still on the ground but the chances for errors increase greatly when the grooves are 15 feet off the ground. Keeping the cuts straight while working on a boom lift can be quite challenging.

The solution was found by using a saw guide made of 1/4" thick ridged plastic. into 8" wide strips and attaching a straight edge to one face. Next, we used our circular saw with a wood blade and ripped the plastic strip (using the same bevel angle as the chamfer groove), the entire length holding the saw base plate tight to the straight edge. When this was done we changed back to the concrete cutting blade and checked the guide to verify our tolerances. Ripping the guide on a table saw may be easier for some applications.

We now had a guide that was custom fit to the saw. Wherever the guide was placed was exactly where the saw blade would cut. We just took our layout and prep time out of the picture without having to bring in a heavy track saw to do the job!

To anchor the guide on the wall, it was predrilled with 3/8" pilot holes. We then set the guide on the wall where the cut was to be made. Using a 5/16" concrete bit we drilled thru the pilot holes and into the concrete panel. Driving 2- 16d Duplex nails into the hole secured the guide to the wall. Concrete lag screws can be used for a more secure attachment if required.

Being made of plastic, the guide did not scratch the surface of the building. The base plate of the saw never came in contact with the surface of the wall.

This technique can be used on course or textured surfaces where precision is very difficult to achieve using most other methods.

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Trim Guides are made in the USA from recycled materials.

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