Sawing pavers

rickyroma

We have those small pavers ( 20cm x 10cm) on our driveway. Wanting to do a few levelling and repair jobs on it to save a few quid. Only bit I'm stuck on is cutting down one of the pavers to fit at the edge of the drive.  Are masonry saws any good for this type of job? Would a hacksaw work too? 

Section62

rickyroma said:

We have those small pavers ( 20cm x 10cm) on our driveway. Wanting to do a few levelling and repair jobs on it to save a few quid. Only bit I'm stuck on is cutting down one of the pavers to fit at the edge of the drive.  Are masonry saws any good for this type of job? Would a hacksaw work too? 

Angle grinder with a masonry disk, or a block splitter.

If the cut end won't be obvious then a brick bolster + hammer (+safety eyewear) is probably the cheapest way to do it.

CliveOfIndia

I'd agree with the above.  The cheapest and simplest is a bolster chisel, and it works very well.  But it can be hard going if you've got more than a few to cut.

A cheap angle grinder with a masonry disc (or even a diamond disc, believe it or not) is far easier, and they actually don't cost a lot.  I have one that I bought about 20 years ago, cost about £25 or something like that.  Admittedly it doesn't get used a lot, but it's still going strong and makes life an awful lot easier on the odd occasion I do need it.  I used it pretty heavily when I first got it, bought it when I was building my own patio, so there was a lot of slabs and bricks that needed cutting.

grumpy_codger

CliveOfIndia said:

A cheap angle grinder with a masonry disc (or even a diamond disc, believe it or not) is far easier, and they actually don't cost a lot.  ...

I'm pretty sure masonry discs are diamond.

Section62

grumpy_codger said:

CliveOfIndia said:

A cheap angle grinder with a masonry disc (or even a diamond disc, believe it or not) is far easier, and they actually don't cost a lot.  ...

I'm pretty sure masonry discs are diamond.

You can get masonry discs as well as 'diamond'.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-masonry-cutting-discs-115mm-4-1-2-x-22-2mm-5-pack/471PH

Until small cheap diamond discs became widely available the goto masonry disc was usually a SC one, as per the link.

If the OP already has an angle grinder but no suitable discs for it then for a one-off job it would probably be worth them using a silicon carbide disc rather than investing in diamond.  Pavers can wear out cheap diamond discs fairly quickly... if a disc is going to be wrecked on a paver then it may as well be a cheap SC one.

Personally, I'd probably do a shallow angle grinder cut in the top face to give a clean edge, then use a bolster to cut through the bulk.

stuart45

If you use a hammer and bolster to cut a brick, it's best to place it on sand and work round all 4 sides with the tools. Increase the force gradually as you work around. Nowadays it's not so common to use the hand tools for cutting.