Bath & North East Somerset
Diamond Drilling & Concrete Cutting in Bath
Core drilling, saw cutting and chasing for Bath's stone buildings, from Georgian townhouses to new builds. Cut wet with diamond tools, with no hammering and very little dust.
- DSA Member
- Stone & Listed Buildings
- Free Quotes
Working in Bath
Drilling and Cutting in a Stone City
Bath is a World Heritage city built mostly from Bath stone, a soft, honey-coloured limestone. A lot of the drilling and cutting here goes through solid stone walls that are far thicker and less predictable than a modern cavity wall, often in a building that is listed or sits in the city's conservation area.
Diamond tools suit that. A core bit grinds a clean round hole with water and no hammer action, so there is no shock going into old masonry, no blown-out stone on the far side and very little dust. For openings, a track-mounted wall saw cuts the outline cleanly, so the stone around it isn't cracked by breaking out.
Bath Stone Walls
Older Bath walls are usually solid limestone, often with a rubble core between the two faces. Liam cores them wet and steady to keep both faces clean, and checks the wall for cables and pipes before the bit goes in.
Listed Buildings
Listing covers the inside of a building as well as the outside. Before a new vent, flue, pipe hole or opening in a listed building, check with Bath & North East Somerset Council whether you need listed building consent. Once it's in place, we drill and cut to the approved positions and sizes.
Parking and Access
Much of central Bath is residents' parking. If the van needs a bay outside, the council can suspend one, but it has to be paid for four working days before the job and late requests cost more. We talk through access and parking when we quote, so it's sorted before the day.
How we drill Bath stone
Coring Through a Thick Stone Wall
A typical older Bath wall isn't one solid block. It's a dressed stone face on the outside, a core of rubble and lime mortar in the middle, and another stone face on the inside, often finished with lime plaster. Each layer behaves differently under a drill.
For a thick wall, or where both faces need to stay clean, the hole can be cored from each side so the two cores meet inside the wall. The bit never pushes out through a finished face, so there's no blown-out stone or plaster to make good.
The core comes out in one piece, the water keeps the dust down, and the hole is ready for the pipe, duct or flue liner to go straight in.
Wall cross-section
Cored from both sides
Methods we use in Bath buildings
Rig-Mounted Coring
For flues, soil pipes and ducts through thick stone. The drill is fixed to the wall or floor, so the hole stays straight all the way through the face, the rubble core and out the other side.
Handheld Coring
For smaller holes in tight spots where a rig won't fit, like cable and pipe entries in cellars, under-pavement vaults, cupboards and stairwells.
Stitch Drilling
A line of overlapping cores that frees a section of wall or floor without a saw. Useful in vaults and basements where there isn't room to set up a wall saw track.
Wall Sawing
A track-mounted saw for straight-edged door and window openings. The cut is clean on both faces, so the stone around the opening isn't broken out. Openings need an engineer's design and, in a listed building, consent first.
What we do in Bath
Our Services in Bath
The same three services we offer across Bristol and the South West, matched to the kind of buildings you find in Bath, from Georgian townhouses and their basement vaults to modern homes, shops and commercial units.
Core Drilling in Bath
Holes for extractor fans, cooker hoods and boiler flues through thick stone walls, soil and waste pipe holes for new bathrooms, and duct and service cores for basement and vault conversions.
Diamond core drilling →Saw Cutting in Bath
New door and window openings, widened openings between rooms and slab cutting for drains, cut clean so the stone or concrete around the opening stays sound. A new opening needs a structural engineer's design first.
Concrete saw cutting →Chasing in Bath
Cable and pipe chases for rewires, new heating and kitchen or bathroom refits in older houses, cut to a set depth with dust extraction. In a listed building, check whether the chasing needs consent before work starts.
Wall and floor chasing →Planning an opening in a load-bearing wall? Read when you need a structural engineer for a wall opening before you book.
How a Bath Job Works
Most Bath jobs are priced from photos, with no site visit. Here's what happens from your first message to the finished hole or opening.
Send Photos and Sizes
A photo of each side of the wall or floor, the hole or opening sizes, the wall thickness if you know it, and the street or postcode in Bath.
Fixed Price and a Date
Liam replies with a fixed price and a date, usually within 24 hours, and flags anything to sort first, like parking or consent.
Check, Protect and Set Up
We check for cables and pipes, sheet the room, protect floors and finished stonework, and set up the water feed and extraction.
Drill, Clean Up and Check
Clean cores and cuts in the marked positions, slurry and dust cleared away, and the room left tidy before we leave.
Tell us about the job and add a few photos. Liam replies with a fixed price, usually within 24 hours.
Rather send photos on WhatsApp? Message Liam on 07833 445534
Where we work
Bath and the Villages Around It
LAP is based in Bristol, about 12 miles from Bath along the A4, so Bath jobs are a regular, easy trip. We cover the whole city and the Bath & North East Somerset area, including:
- Bathwick
- Widcombe
- Lyncombe
- Combe Down
- Odd Down
- Oldfield Park
- Twerton
- Weston
- Lansdown
- Larkhall
- Batheaston
- Bathampton
- Keynsham
- Saltford
- Peasedown St John
- Midsomer Norton
- Radstock
- Bradford-on-Avon
FAQs
Diamond Drilling in Bath: Your Questions
Do I need permission to core drill a listed building in Bath?
Often, yes. Listing covers the interior of a building as well as the exterior, and getting the right consent before work starts is a legal requirement. For a new vent, flue, pipe hole or opening, ask Bath & North East Somerset Council's on-duty conservation officer first. Once consent is in place, we drill and cut to the approved positions and sizes.
Can you drill through Bath stone without damaging it?
Yes. Diamond core drilling grinds the hole with water rather than hammering it out, so there's no impact going into the stone. That keeps the edges of the hole clean on both faces and avoids the cracking and spalling you can get when old limestone is drilled or broken out by hand.
Can you core through thick old walls in Bath?
Yes. Older Bath walls are often much thicker than a modern wall and can have a loose rubble core between the stone faces. Send a photo of both sides and the wall thickness, and Liam will tell you the best way to core it and whether the hole should be drilled from one side or both.
Do you need a parking space outside the property?
It helps, because the drill, water and extraction kit come from the van. A lot of central Bath is residents' parking, so if there's no driveway or nearby bay, the council can suspend a parking bay for the day. It must be paid for four working days before the job, and short-notice requests cost extra, so we sort out who arranges it when we quote.
Do you work on newer buildings in Bath too?
Yes. As well as period property, we core drill, saw cut and chase in modern houses, extensions, shops and commercial buildings across Bath and the surrounding villages, through concrete, block, brick and stone.
How are jobs in Bath priced?
The same way as in Bristol, with a fixed price agreed before the day. Send photos and rough sizes and Liam will reply with a price and a date. Our pricing guide explains what affects the cost.
Get a Free Quote in Bath
Send a photo of the wall or floor and rough sizes. Liam replies within 24 hours with a fixed price and a date.