What Is Concrete Coring and When Is It Used?

Over 70% of people in the world live in a home or other structure that contains concrete in some way, shape, or form (per Concrete Helper). This concrete ages, changes, and needs to be inspected and repaired and concrete coring is one way that this is achieved.

What is Concrete Coring?

Concrete coring is a process by which a section of concrete is taken from the interior of a piece of concrete either a slab, a block, or another section. The core or section is a cylinder that can then be tested and then repaired as needed.

Concrete, like any material that is used for buildings, can become worn and can change over time with exposure to heat, cold, water, and more. These elements can change the overall integrity of the concrete and can cause a need for the repair or replacement of certain sections of concrete.

Concrete coring is most often used to test the structural integrity of a sample of concrete as well as better understand and test the actual physical composition of the concrete itself. A great example might be if a building collapses and an investigation into the concrete and how it collapsed or failed needs to be carried out. A Concrete core might be taken to help find out just what happened and to find out what the actual issue with the concrete was.

Another reason concrete coring might be done is to test concrete in a building or structure and to make sure that it is still sound and it is still going to structurally support the rest of the building. This is a fairly common technique that allows for comprehensive testing without having to entirely remove or demolish the building and without having to do major work to figure out what potential issues might be and how to go about fixing them.

Concrete is a substance that is relatively unique as far as batches go as well. Coring allows for testing to see what the concrete is made up of and to help determine what some potential issues might be in the long and short term. Coring can only be done by professionals that are able to take the core without affecting the rest of the building and without changing the overall integrity of the structure during the coring and testing process.

Concrete coring is necessary and essential and when done right, can help to prevent a huge range of problems.