NEVER CUT A PT SLAB BLIND.
A post-tensioned slab is not ordinary concrete. Running through it are steel tendons stressed to tens of tonnes of force, and severing one blind releases that energy instantly — anchors whip out of slab edges, concrete blows out around the duct, and the slab can lose the strength the tendon was providing. That's why cutting post-tensioned concrete is the job most cutting crews refuse, and why builders hit a wall when a refurbishment needs a new stair void, lift opening or services penetration in a PT floor plate.
We treat PT cutting as an engineering exercise, not a sawing exercise. Before a blade or wire touches the slab, the tendon layout is mapped — GPR scanning cross-checked against the as-built and PT shop drawings — the structural engineer signs off the opening positions, and where tendons must be severed, the de-stressing and cutting sequence is agreed with the engineer before work starts. We never cut a post-tensioned slab blind.
The cutting itself is where our kit earns its keep. Our Hilti DSW 1510-CA diamond wire saw takes out full PT sections — band beams, transfer structures, whole bays of suspended slab — in controlled, craneable pieces with minimal vibration, while track-mounted floor and wall saws cut voids and penetrations cleanly between mapped tendons. Where broken-out removal is approved, our Husqvarna DXR 305 demolition robot does the breaking with the operator outside the exclusion zone.
Post-tensioned slab cutting in Brisbane is where this work concentrates — PT has been the default frame for the city's commercial towers, apartment buildings and carpark decks for decades, so almost every major refurbishment or change-of-use project runs into it. We cut PT floor plates across Brisbane and bring the same crews to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Toowoomba and regional Queensland, including PT decks in basement and underground carpark demolition.
Every PT job runs on full SWMS, mapped exclusion zones and an engineer-approved sequence. See where this sits in our broader complex demolition capability, check our concrete cutting cost and wire sawing cost guides, or send the drawings — request a quote.