Application
Equipment Pad Cutting & Removal
Cutting, coring, and removing concrete equipment pads and housekeeping pads for new or relocated machinery.
Industrial and mechanical work is full of equipment pads — housekeeping pads under air handlers, inertia bases for pumps and compressors, and machine foundations that need to be removed or reshaped when equipment changes out. When a plant re-tools or a mechanical room gets new gear, the old pad often has to go and a new penetration or anchor pattern has to be cut.
Crews we route work to cut pad perimeters cleanly so the surrounding floor stays intact, remove the pad concrete, and core anchor holes for the new equipment. In Houston's manufacturing and petrochemical facilities this is routine turnaround work that has to fit tight outage windows.
Methods for equipment pads
Pad removal starts with slab sawing to isolate the pad from the surrounding slab, followed by slab removal for the pad concrete. New anchor patterns are set with concrete core drilling and precise dowel drilling or anchor bolt coring for the equipment's baseplate.
Where the pad is tied into a structural slab, concrete scanning confirms what's below before cutting.
Practical considerations
- Anchor cores are laid out to the equipment baseplate template so bolts drop in without field-fitting.
- Wet-cutting keeps silica dust controlled per OSHA 1926.1153 in occupied plant areas.
- Vibration-sensitive equipment nearby may require low-vibration cutting methods.
- Coordinate with the plant's outage window so cutting and removal fit the schedule.
Template the anchors
Coring anchor holes to the equipment's baseplate template avoids field re-drilling and keeps the install on schedule.
Equipment pad FAQs
- Can you remove an old equipment pad without damaging the floor?
- Yes. The pad is saw-cut to isolate it from the surrounding slab, then removed. A clean saw line leaves the adjacent floor intact for the new pad or patch.
- Can you core anchor holes for the new equipment?
- Yes. Anchor and dowel holes are cored to the baseplate template so the new equipment sets without field-fitting.
- Do you work around live plant equipment?
- Crews coordinate work zones and outage windows with plant operations, using wet-cutting and dust control to protect adjacent equipment.
- How do I scope a pad removal?
- Share the pad dimensions, thickness, and the new anchor pattern through request-pricing so a crew can plan cutting, removal, and coring together.
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