Choosing the Correct Concrete Blade

There are a lot of Concrete Diamond blades on the market and when you are new to learning about concrete, it can surprise you and it will be difficult to choose the correct blade or saw for your project. It is recommended to take your time, do your research, and invest in products that are known to be field tested in your area on similar projects.

Our hopes are that this list might help provide a simple resource guide to selecting the correct blades, or at a minimum, to help you start to distinguish the types of concrete and the different types of blades needed to cut through each type of concrete.

1. Cured Residential & Commercial Concrete

This is the “standard” concrete slab you see in driveways, sidewalks, patios, and building floors. It’s fully hardened and contains typical aggregates like limestone and gravel.

What blade to use:

High-quality segmented Concrete Cured Diamond Blades. They are aggressive, cool quickly, and cut efficiently through cured concrete.  If you wanted to go for a step above, and make the most out of your blade, you can also look at using a Electric Cured Concrete Blade.

2. Reinforced Concrete (with Rebar)

Common in foundations, bridge supports, and industrial flooring — reinforced concrete includes steel rebar that can dull or damage blades if you’re not prepared.

What to Use

Laser-welded segmented and turbo diamond blades designed to handle steel and concrete together. These include:

Diamond Concrete blades for cutting out industrial flooring

Diamond Wall Saw blades for cutting out vertical cuts

Diamond Wire is also an alternative to cutting bridge supports and complicated cuts in confined areas.

3. Green (Early-Age) Concrete

Green concrete refers to freshly poured or recently cured slabs — typically cut soon after finishing to create control joints before significant shrinkage. It’s softer but more abrasive than fully cured concrete, and blade choice is key.

What to Use

Soft-bond, segmented diamond blades or early entry blades specifically geared to softer, abrasive material. These include:

Diamond Low HP Green Concrete Blades

4. High-Performance & High-Strength Concrete

Used in heavy infrastructure (bridges, highways, industrial slabs) — these mixes can exceed 50 MPa strength with dense aggregates.

What to Use

Laser-welded diamond blades with softer bonds and premium matrixes to expose fresh diamonds against tough, high-psi material.

Best Blades for the Job

(The same heavy-duty blades recommended for reinforced concrete — especially premium or trade-grade diamond blades — are ideal here.)

CanWest Diamond Products are well known for have exceptional industrial blades due to our parent company being one of the top concrete cutting companies in Western Canada. We have the exceptional ability to test large industrial blades on numerous projects and have been perfecting the engineering in our blades for 40+ years.

5. Pervious & Lightweight Concrete

These mixes — used for stormwater management or where reduced weight is key — contain larger voids or lightweight aggregates. They cut differently from traditional mixes due to porosity and aggregate variation.

What to Use

Segmented or turbo diamond blades with a balanced bond that can handle voids and inconsistent material hardness.

Best Blades for the Job

Multi-Purpose segmented diamond blades for small projects

 If you still are not sure:

Feel free to contact one of our experts at 403-225-4445. All CanWest Diamond Product experts have 10-40+ years of experience in operating saws and utilizing different blades in projects in the Alberta area.

If you find the project is too big of an undertaking as a DIY project, or you find you do not have the correct equipment, feel free to also get an estimate from our parent company, CanWest Concrete Cutting & Coring. We have a dedicated team of estimators that will collect your information, come to site, and provide a complimentary estimate.

Thank you for taking your time to read our blog and be apart of the CanWest Diamond Community!!

If you liked this blog, you might also like:

• Locating Utilities Under Concrete
• Cutting Concrete in Cold Weather
• How long will your Diamond Blade Last
• Cutting Concrete Blocks or Pavers

CanWest Diamond blogs are written with information based on experience and from online sources. CanWest Diamond products are not at fault for outdated or inaccurate information. We highly recommend following procedures on your saws, completing your own current research, and taking measures to learn about the safety of these blades before using them.