A wet saw is a power saw with a water-cooled diamond blade used to cut brick, block, stone, and pavers with clean, precise edges, the water keeping the blade cool and knocking down silica dust.
Dry-cutting masonry with a grinder throws a huge amount of fine silica dust and heats the blade fast enough to wear it out or crack the material being cut. A wet saw runs a continuous stream of water across the blade, which cools it, extends its life, and keeps dust down to a fraction of what a dry cut produces. It's the tool of choice any time a cut needs to be clean and precise rather than rough.
On a patio or walkway job, the wet saw gets heavy use fitting pavers or flagstone around curves, borders, and structures like steps or a fire pit, where a factory edge won't work. It also handles trimming stone veneer and cutting brick for openings, corners, and returns, jobs where a rough or chipped edge would be visible in the finished work.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
Chelo's Brick & Stone serves Hillsville, Galax, Wytheville, Fancy Gap, and Independence, VA. Call for a straight answer and a free on-site estimate.
