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How to cut breeze blocks with a saw
Ornamental cinder blocks, also known as breeze blocks, screen blocks and pattern blocks became wildly trendy in interior design and architecture during the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, these fell out of favor and were regarded as outdated and unpleasant for decades.
However, the new generations have once again recognized the mid-century modern design value and brought them back over the past few years. Throughout this article, we will explain how to cut breeze blocks with a masonry saw for you to keep up with the “mid-mod” trend at home.
In this post, our experts will answer some of your most common questions about cutting breeze blocks, like “Can you cut breeze blocks with a saw? or “Which I the best way to cut breeze blocks?”.
Why cutting breeze blocks with a masonry saw is your best bet
Cutting breeze blocks gives you the advantage of its versatility as they can be used and adapted for many purposes, such as: providing shade outdoors (in gardens, patios and carports), giving you privacy and separating stairwells and exterior walkways. They can also be used indoors, to divide or decorate a large space inside your home or an office.
In terms of architecture, breeze blocks are rich because of its design: they come with many beautiful patterns that let the airflow and light go through while they keep their structural support purpose. Besides, if you have a masonry saw, working with these blocks is not complicated at all thanks to their composition and preformed shapes.
How do you cut breeze blocks with a masonry saw?
It seems crystal clear that no matter what your project is, working with a saw to cut breeze blocks is your best choice. So, without further hesitation, let’s learn how to do it.
If you intend to build a wall, you need to know how to cut a breeze block in half, because just like with any other kind of brick, every row of decorative screen blocks have to be organized alternating with the one below. This way, the support structure will be much stronger, and the geometrical pattern will be appreciated while offsetting each row from the next one.
Thanks to their increasingly demand, breeze blocks can be acquired in a wide range of choices in terms of its components. However, they are mainly found in a mix of concrete and ash (thus, the name “cinder block”). Working with breeze blocks is not like cutting dense concrete blocks, but to cut them with a masonry saw, a diamond blade designed for cutting concrete is required.
Before telling you how to cut a breeze block in half, you need to do a dry run with your blocks without a mortar in order to know the number of half-blocks that the ends of the wall will need and mark the cutting line to keep in mind where to perform the cuts. Usually, the designs require the cut right in the middle.
All these things considered, what is the best way to cut breeze blocks? The procedure is very straightforward. However, depending on the maximum cutting depth of your masonry saw and the thickness of your breeze blocks, you may need to perform a second cut through the same mark.
Having this in mind, you simply need to ensure that your masonry saw can function in safe operating conditions and make sure that the water-cooling system is properly working. Then, line up the blade in your breeze block, turn on the saw and gradually drive the blade through the desired cutting line.
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