Paul DeAndrea, second-generation owner of DeAndrea Coring and Sawing Inc., is proud that he and his team find solutions to the industry’s most challenging sawing, cutting and coring tasks.

DeAndrea Coring and Sawing Inc. team cuts and removes concrete pan decking from Concourse C at Denver International Airport.

Cutting concrete is not for the unskilled, particularly when associated with critical infrastructure, such as dams, bridges and highways.

The job is noisy, dangerous and requires an extreme attention to detail and specialized tools combined with a resourceful problem-solving ability to ensure accuracy, quality and safety.

For Paul DeAndrea, second-generation owner of DeAndrea Coring and Sawing Inc., cutting concrete was carved into his future from a very young age by his father, Mike DeAndrea. Along with establishing the company in 1971, Mike was one of the founding members of the international Concrete Sawing & Drilling Association (CSDA).

With that kind of legacy and a passion for his craft, Paul has continued to push the boundaries of his business and the industry. He and his team of professionals have become the go-to coring and sawing services provider throughout the Mountain West, called to work on high-profile and complex projects, such as a large Denver reservoir expansion project to the Colorado Department of Transportation’s I-25 Gap 48-mile lane expansion project.

While Paul’s success hasn’t been easy or without challenge and loss, it is one that he’s aggressively cultivated. Building on the memory of his beloved father, he’s made a conscious effort to push beyond now-conventional cutting, coring and sawing services with the motto, “If we can’t cut it, no one can.”

Concrete Visions

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the state of Colorado, and particularly the Denver area, underwent significant growth, with the beginning of the downtown skyscraper boom, establishment of the Denver Technological Center complex and the widespread build-out of suburbia. Like any modern city, concrete was the primary material used to construct roads, bridges, water, wastewater and energy infrastructure, transit systems, high-rise buildings, residential homes and much more. The rapidly changing landscape and the subsequent need for precision concrete cutting got the attention of Mike DeAndrea. A butcher by trade, Mike first learned about the importance of concrete cutting when his brother-in-law asked for some help completing several cutting jobs. Since concrete cutting saws were just larger versions of a butcher’s cutting saws, Mike enjoyed the new perspective and the extra money for his family. For a short time, he would cut beef during the day and cut concrete at night.

As his skill grew, so did Mike’s interest in concrete cutting, sawing and coring. Every job was unique and required a customized plan to complete.

He sold his boat, traded his butcher’s knife for diamond saw and founded DeAndrea Coring and Sawing. That was 1971. The year after, he and 11 colleagues in the coring/sawing profession helped establish CSDA, a nonprofit trade association of contractors, manufacturers and affiliated members from the concrete construction and renovation industry. Today, CSDA has 500 international member companies.

For the next 25 years, Mike built a reputation for quality work—and established what would become a foundation for his son, Paul, to grow in scope, scale and reputation.

A Team Effort

Paul’s earliest memories of his childhood include riding with his dad in a saw truck to and from jobs. He recalls, “Dad worked seven days a week—so on weekends, I went with him.”

He went to work for his dad as a teenager, continued while earning a construction management degree from Colorado State University and, in 1985, became a managing partner in the company—primarily working in the field.

“I learned a lot in the field, out cutting and coring concrete on every structure from walls and floor slabs to airports and dams,” Paul says. “I loved the challenge and became dad’s go-to guy on particularly complex jobs.”

Cutting and sawing concrete is a customized skill that requires the operator to work often in close spaces. Concrete coring—the precise drilling of holes to run electrical, plumbing, HVAC and other lines—can range from 0.25 inches to 72 inches in diameter and typically run a depth of a few feet or less, though some are a few hundred feet. Paul prided himself on finding ways to solve any project challenge. With his dad at the helm, Paul and the rest of the company’s small crew of concrete experts performed jobs on everything from bridge decks and highways to airport runways and parking lots.

Then tragedy hit. Mike died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 55, and Paul, just 29, was left to run the operation and care for those under his employment.

Recalling those early days of loss and new responsibility, Paul adds, “I just dug in. I think it was my fear of failure that kept me moving forward so aggressively. If a job came along that nobody else wanted, we took it and found a way to solve the problem.”

That mentality would serve Paul and the company well over the next few years, as he also began looking for ways to expand and build on the construction management lessons learned while in college about investing in his people, technology and equipment.

Expanding Services

While working a trench digging job for a client, Paul noticed a disconnect in the concrete services industry.

He adds, “Per our contract, we dug a plumbing trench as directed by our client. A month later, I happened to visit the site and the trench was still not re-poured—I couldn’t believe that the client was still waiting.”

So, he decided to do something about it. He spent the next year expanding company services beyond coring and sawing, initially offering pour backs or concrete patching on slab capabilities. Paul says, “It’s an added service that just makes sense. We cut the trench, remove the concrete and, once our customers place their electrical, plumbing or any other systems, we can dowel in the rebar and pour back the concrete floor, stairs, equipment pad or drains—one contractor, one easy process.”

He wasn’t done though. Concrete patching simply opened the door for other potential services on Paul’s quest to become an industry “super sub,” one that offered comprehensive services and could handle any job.

I want to be the go-to company when it comes to any kind of concrete investigation, cutting, sawing, sealing, etc. To do that, we have to take on and complete the most challenging jobs in our profession.” Paul DeAndrea, Owner, DeAndrea Coring and Sawing Inc.

Radar Love

Prior to cutting and sawing in concrete, a contractor needs to gauge concrete thickness and strength as well as what’s below the surface. It’s vital to avoid striking rebar or cutting post-tension cables, which could negatively impact structural integrity, or cutting electrical and communications conduits, which could cause power outages.

Prior to the 1990s, most contractors relied on X-ray technology, which poses some health risk of radiation exposure, and had limitations in terms of “seeing” rebar and cables. In the 1990s and early 2000s, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology, a nondestructive testing method that uses electromagnetic waves to see below a surface, became more affordable. Paul only needed one demonstration of a mobile GPR machine to know it was the future.

Paul says, “We were the first coring and sawing company in Colorado to offer GPR. It’s safer and able to see through thicker concrete than X-ray systems.”

That investment led to the establishment of Concrete Imaging Services (CIS), a division of the DeAndrea family of companies, in 2004. CIS specializes in nondestructive testing with GPR as a way to locate rebar, conduit, post-tension cable, voids, PVC pipes, water and heating lines in concrete or to check concrete thickness, thereby reducing risk when excavating, sawing, coring and drilling. With the latest GPR equipment, the DeAndrea team is able see inside concrete slabs and walls up to 20 inches thick from one side or 40 inches thick with access to both sides.

Exceeding Expectations

By 2005, Paul had accomplished one of his business goals. He had shaped one of the first companies of its kind in Colorado to perform everything from sawing and cutting to demolition, core drilling, concrete patching and pouring, and nondestructive testing services.

In 2008, while much of the country saw the first signs of the Great Recession, Paul continued to expand. He moved the company staff and equipment from Arvada to a larger piece of property in Henderson and added new pieces of equipment and trucks to his fleet.

Paul recalls, “We got through it by doing jobs of all sizes, no matter how small. By 2011, we were stronger for the buildup.”

In that year, DeAndrea Coring and Sawing was contracted to complete one of its most challenging jobs to-date in Brighton, Colorado. Vestas Wind Systems, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer, needed to renovate its massive wind turbine manufacturing plant, which would require the cutting of 100,000 feet of concrete inside the building. To maintain the project’s tight design-build schedule, Vestas needed a concrete sawing company to cut 6,000 feet of concrete a day.

Paul confirms, “The project manager called us because the demo company originally contracted for the job said they could not meet the schedule. I knew we could.”

The DeAndrea team cut and removed an average of 8,000 feet of concrete a day, outpacing the surveyor’s layout. Like most of its customer base, Vestas continues to be one of DeAndrea’s repeat customers.

“I want to be the go-to company when it comes to any kind of concrete investigation, cutting, sawing, sealing, etc.,” Paul says. “To do that, we have to take on and complete the most challenging jobs in our profession.”

Roads to Reservoirs

Today, DeAndrea Coring and Sawing is an industry leader in the cutting and sawing space, working on projects that range from just $400 to over $1 million. His expert team now numbers just over 30. Paul says, “I have been doing this job my entire life. I like finding new opportunities and challenges, giving our team a chance to work more complex jobs, manage bigger projects and grow professionally.”

The team has worked on thousands of projects throughout the state of Colorado and surrounding Rocky Mountain States, including Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas and Nebraska.

That work has ranged in scope, scale and complexity from 8,000 handrail holes at the Pepsi Center arena to saw cutting and removing concrete pan decking from Concourse C in preparation for the installation of people movers at Denver International Airport.

Beyond his expert team of professionals, Paul credits the members of CSDA, the organization his father helped found, for his company’s continued growth in services and reputation. He adds, “I’m still friends with several CSDA members, many of whom loved and respected my dad. I have called on many of them over the years for advice and insights into best practices.”

Looking back at the success of the company, particularly since 1996, Paul remembers his dad. “I believe he’s my guardian angel. There have been many times over the last 20 years where I’m struggling to solve a difficult problem on a job or looking for extra resources to help support a project, and I get a phone call, postcard or knock on the door with the answer. I believe that’s my dad looking out for me.”