Cutting raised floor panels

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madchad

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Location
Columbia, MD USA
There is a project on the horizon which will invlove cutting about 40 raised floor panels. These panels have a metallic sheath with a concrete type material in the center. The holes will be rectangular and I need to determine the best method of cutting the required hole to accommodate the floor box. What are some of the methods you guys use?
 

ron

Senior Member
I've seen it mostly drilling the four corners and using a reciprocating saw.

There are band saws with a jig that can make it more accurate if they are long cuts.

Use a nice grommet (brush type, etc) to reduce air transfer
 

luckylerado

Senior Member
There is a project on the horizon which will invlove cutting about 40 raised floor panels. These panels have a metallic sheath with a concrete type material in the center. The holes will be rectangular and I need to determine the best method of cutting the required hole to accommodate the floor box. What are some of the methods you guys use?

Is this new or existing? It has been my experience that the floor installer will not warranty their product if they are not the ones cutting the holes. I just wish that the acoustical ceiling guys felt the same way. Handing them a template has always worked for me so I may be a bit spoiled. Otherwise I concur with Ron. That is how I have seen it done. Sometimes with a circular saw.
 

eric9822

Senior Member
Location
Camarillo, CA
Occupation
Electrical and Instrumentation Tech
There is a project on the horizon which will invlove cutting about 40 raised floor panels. These panels have a metallic sheath with a concrete type material in the center. The holes will be rectangular and I need to determine the best method of cutting the required hole to accommodate the floor box. What are some of the methods you guys use?

I have seen all metal and metal with an MDO or MDF looking core and they are usually cut with recip saws as others have stated. I have never seen anything with a concrete type core. I would try and figure out exactly what the core is made of before deciding on a method.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
I have seen all metal and metal with an MDO or MDF looking core and they are usually cut with recip saws as others have stated. I have never seen anything with a concrete type core. I would try and figure out exactly what the core is made of before deciding on a method.
Especially if it is intended for fire protection!
 

ActionDave

Chief Moderator
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Location
Durango, CO, 10 h 20 min from the winged horses.
Occupation
Licensed Electrician
There is a project on the horizon which will invlove cutting about 40 raised floor panels. These panels have a metallic sheath with a concrete type material in the center. The holes will be rectangular and I need to determine the best method of cutting the required hole to accommodate the floor box. What are some of the methods you guys use?
There are outfits that cut concrete for a living. With forty cuts to consider hiring somebody with the right tools and experience is a cost effective option.
 

SceneryDriver

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Electrical and Automation Designer
I recently got done with a project where we had to cut 4" holes in raised floor panels that had concrete cores. It was hell on the hole saws. We had 8 holes to drill and I think we went through 6 or 7 hole saws. We were kinda stuck with how we could do it, as the panels that needed the holes were already installed under occupied equipment racks.

If you have to cut through panels with concrete cores, and you can remove the tiles for cutting, consider contacting a waterjet company. An abrasive water jet can slice through about anything, and would make short work of your floor tiles.

In hindsight, we probably should've figured out a way to have our holes waterjet-ed. The drilling with a hole saw was pretty awful. Cutting 40 holes would have taken forever, and would have broken the bank on the cost of the hole saws we needed.

Where are you located? If you're in the NYC area, the company I work for has a waterjet that could do what you want.


SceneryDriver
 

luckylerado

Senior Member
Don't forget to consider the effect of dust on optical fiber equipment. Any comm equipment really but especially optical fiber. I would be shot out of a cannon for hole sawing concrete in the comm closets that we work in.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
If you have to cut through panels with concrete cores, and you can remove the tiles for cutting, consider contacting a waterjet company. An abrasive water jet can slice through about anything, and would make short work of your floor tiles.

In hindsight, we probably should've figured out a way to have our holes waterjet-ed. The drilling with a hole saw was pretty awful. Cutting 40 holes would have taken forever, and would have broken the bank on the cost of the hole saws we needed.

I suspect it would be much cheaper to have a concrete cutting company core the holes or rent a core drill.

Diamond core drills go through metal as well as concrete cleanly and neatly.
 

SceneryDriver

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Electrical and Automation Designer
I suspect it would be much cheaper to have a concrete cutting company core the holes or rent a core drill.

Diamond core drills go through metal as well as concrete cleanly and neatly.

Possibly, but it's hard to drill rectangular holes with a core drill. ;) One tile, absolutely waterjet is too expensive. 40 tiles though? I bet the jet could bang them out in a couple of hours. Probably no more expensive than hiring the core drilling guys. Plus, no mess onsite to clean up and deal with. I hear electronics equipment rooms don't like dust and water too much, especially leaking under raised floors.



SceneryDriver
 

jeremysterling

Senior Member
Location
Austin, TX
Surprisingly, a reciprocating saw has worked best for me over the years. I've tried jigsaws and holesaws, but the sawzall cuts right through tiles. You'll need two 3/4 holesaw penetrations at the corners of your rectangle. Its not even hard on the blades, but you might buy a five pack for 40 tiles.

I've cut tiles for PDU installs and conduit runs.
 

SceneryDriver

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Electrical and Automation Designer
Thanks SceneryDriver. I don't know why I didn't think of a waterjet, which I have access to...lol.

Please post back and let us know how/if it works. There are so many makes of those tiles, and so many variations of waterjets, I can see it working beautifully or not at all. FWIW, our waterjet guy suggested cutting the tiles face up, and setting the pressure of the jet to penetrate the thickest part of the honeycomb on the bottom. It will over-penetrate on the thinner sections but that shouldn't matter.



SceneryDriver
 

NetfloorUSA

Member
Location
U.S.A.
Here's the saw we use for cutting raised access floor panels

Here's the saw we use for cutting raised access floor panels

Hey there, I know this reply is a few days after the post, but I thought this information would be helpful to you anyways.

I have no connection with the saw dealer or manufacturer other than having purchased from them. It's almost like an unwritten law in this industry that you need to have a few of these band saws if you are going to install raised floor.

They have a big "throat" so you can get a wide panel in there. They are easy to open up and clean (to remove debris). And it's easy to change out the blade. It's also lightweight (surprisingly) and easy to setup on site. Thats probably the biggest feature: how portable it is, yet still strong. It's a very simple band saw. I don't know if they use any magic; it seems simple to me, but when 95% of the raised floor installation industry uses the same saw, that tells you something.

I *think* they're manufactured in the U.K. (maybe someone can correct me on this). I only know of the United States distributor. Please see the pictures below.

Again, I'm not trying to sell you on this particular saw, but I am saying this is what we, and virtually any raised floor installer, will use. Whether it's a factory installer or an independent installer, this is the saw they use.

The only other major alternative that we do is to pre-cut panels at the factory. We can do this with a few different technologies, depending on the needs, but a water jet (like several others have mentioned) is one of the best ways. But we typically reserve this for pre-cutting or drilling (holes for conduit) at the factory, when the floor layout is known ahead of time and we also know where the customer will want cable access.


Access Floor Band Saw.JPG

Access Floor Band Saw Inside.JPG



Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps!
-Ryan Hulland, Netfloor USA
 

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