How is wire sawing priced?

Wire sawing is almost always priced per job, not per metre. The main drivers are the cut-face area in square metres, the amount of reinforcement or embedded steel, access and rigging time, and how many separate cuts need to be set up. For staged or open-ended work, day and shift rates can be quoted.

Is wire sawing more expensive than normal concrete cutting?

Per set-up, yes - wire sawing carries more rigging than a track or floor saw. But blade saws stop at roughly 700-800 mm of depth. On sections thicker than a blade can reach, wire is often the only method, and it usually beats percussive breaking once make-good, vibration damage and programme time are counted.

How do I get an accurate wire sawing price?

Send drawings or photos with the section thickness, the access and the deadline. Apex Cut comes back with a method and a fixed quote, usually the same business day.

Pricing Guide · 2026

WIRE SAWING — WHAT IT COSTS

Straight talk on what diamond wire sawing actually costs in Queensland — how the price is built, what moves it up or down, and how to get a fixed quote with no surprises.

The Short Answer

PRICED ON THE CUT, NOT PER METRE

Conventional concrete cutting is priced per linear metre — published Australian price lists run from around ten dollars a metre for shallow cuts to well over a hundred as depth increases — but a blade stops at roughly 700–800 mm. Past that point you’re in wire territory, and wire sawing is priced per job, not per metre, because the number is built from the cut-face area, the reinforcement, the access and the rigging — not just the length of the line on the drawing.

Our Hilti DSW 1510-CA cuts to unlimited depth in any direction, so the wire is usually quoting against the methods that can’t do the job: percussive breaking, oversize blade saws, or hand demolition. A bridge headstock cut into three engineered lifts is a very different price to a single machine-base cut in an open yard — even if the wire runs the same distance.

The honest answer to “what will it cost?” is: send us the section and we’ll give you a fixed price. Below is what we look at when we put that number together.

WANT A REAL NUMBER?

Send the section, the thickness and the access. We’ll come back with a method and a fixed quote — usually same business day.

0411 134 101

info@apexcut.com.au

Queensland, Australia

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Cost Drivers

WHAT MOVES THE PRICE

CUT-FACE AREA

The square metres of face the wire has to pass through — depth × length, every cut. The single biggest line in any wire-saw quote.

MATERIAL & REINFORCEMENT

Heavily reinforced concrete, embedded structural steel and stone all cut at different speeds and consume diamond wire differently.

ACCESS & RIGGING

Routing the wire means drilling pilot holes and mounting pulleys. Straightforward faces rig fast; over water, at height or in plant rooms takes longer.

NUMBER OF SET-UPS

Every separate cut is a rig and de-rig. Grouping cuts into one visit and sequencing them well is where a good method saves real money.

WATER & SLURRY CONTROL

Wire cutting runs wet. Supply, capture and disposal are priced in — especially inside live buildings where slurry can’t reach drains or finishes.

LIFTING & REMOVAL

Cut sections have to come out. Section weights, crane or crunch-and-clear, and load-out all shape the final number — we price the finish up front.

Wire vs The Alternatives

WHY WIRE OFTEN COSTS LESS

On mass sections, the comparison isn’t wire versus a cheaper saw — it’s wire versus days of percussive breaking, vibration damage to the structure that stays, noise shutdowns, and the make-good bill afterwards. A wire cut is quiet, vibration-free and leaves an engineered face that needs no repair, with sections lifted out in controlled pieces. One mobilisation, a planned sequence, a clean handover — that’s where the saving lands on complex demolition scopes.

And when the section is within blade reach, we’ll tell you — a floor or wall saw from our concrete cutting fleet is the cheaper tool for shallower work, and the DXR 305 demolition robot is often the faster way to break out what the wire has freed. One contractor, the full toolkit: see the wire sawing page for the capability detail, or our demolition robot hire cost guide for the robotic side of the pricing picture.

FAQ

WIRE SAWING COST QUESTIONS

Per job, not per metre. The number is built from the cut-face area in square metres, the reinforcement in the section, access and rigging time, and how many separate cuts need setting up. For staged or open-ended work we can quote day or shift rates.

Per set-up, yes — there’s more rigging than a track or floor saw. But blades stop at roughly 700–800 mm. On sections thicker than a blade can reach, wire is usually the only method — and it beats breaking once make-good, vibration and programme time are counted.

Minimum call-outs are standard across the industry. If your opening is small and shallow enough for a wall or floor saw, that will usually be the cheaper method — we’ll advise the most economical tool for the section, not the most expensive one.

Send drawings or photos with the section thickness, the access and the deadline. We’ll come back with a method and a fixed quote — usually the same business day.