Core drilling in Abqaiq is something we do in one scheduled visit that covers every hole your house or shop needs: the entry for the main water pipe through a boundary wall or outside wall, drain and cable holes, the extractor hole high on the back wall of a restaurant, and the concrete test cores an engineer wants from an older slab. Aemar Al-Maryam General Contracting drills them with a water-cooled diamond core rig after scanning for rebar, without breaking out the surrounding concrete. The lowest price on our list is SAR 90, for an AC-sized hole; final figures are fixed only after we have seen the site and agreed terms. Call or WhatsApp 0547879578.
Abqaiq is a small town, and the core jobs here are few in number but varied in kind. One house needs a single hole for a water pipe, a restaurant being fitted out needs a big hole for its hood, and the owner of an older house wants to know whether the roof slab can carry another floor before building on it. Because we travel from Dammam, the best thing you can do is gather all of that into one list that we bring on one visit. This page explains how to write that list, then goes through each kind of hole and what it needs.
Core drilling in Abqaiq in brief
- What we drill: water, drain, power and telecom entries; extractor and AC holes; slab holes between floors; and concrete test cores.
- Where: houses, villas and small apartment buildings, shops and restaurants on commercial streets, and boundary walls.
- Starting prices: from SAR 90 (small), SAR 140 (5–6 in), SAR 230 (8 in) and SAR 320 (10–12 in). Test cores and larger holes get a price after inspection, and none of these numbers is final until then.
- How we work: one scheduled visit with a complete list, so travel is shared and each hole costs less.
- Test cores: drilled where the engineer specifies and handed to the lab; the report and decision belong to the engineer.
- To order: WhatsApp the list, photos and map pin to 0547879578.
Core drilling in Abqaiq: write the full list before the visit
Core drilling in Abqaiq starts for us with a sheet of paper, not a machine. Every hole you know about before the date is a bit we bring with us, and a hole slipped into the same day is much cheaper than one that forces a return journey. So we ask you to walk round the house or shop with whoever will fit the pipes and write down every hole you will need in the coming months, however small.
| Item | Example of what to write | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Location | front boundary wall right of the gate / back wall of the kitchen | so we know the access and the wall type |
| Purpose | water pipe from the meter / restaurant hood / test core from the roof slab | the purpose sets the diameter, slope and sealing |
| Diameter | 1 inch / 6 inch / as the engineer specifies | so we pick the right bit |
| Thickness and material | block boundary wall / concrete wall / concrete slab | decides wet or dry drilling |
| Floor and height | ground / near the ceiling / on the roof | so we bring a scaffold or ladder if needed |
| Marked photo | one near photo, one distant photo | replaces a separate inspection visit in most cases |
A list really does lower the price
The journey from Dammam to Abqaiq costs us roughly the same for a single hole as for a dozen. If you gather all your holes, or team up with a neighbour who has some too, that cost is split across more holes and each one’s share falls.
Water, drain and power entries in Abqaiq
Service entry holes are among the jobs we are asked for most in Abqaiq: a new water pipe from the meter to the tank, a drain rerouted to the connection point, or a power or telecom cable run to an annex or shop. These holes are usually small, but they go through the outside wall or the boundary wall, so the level and the seal need particular care if they are not to become a way in for water or insects.
The main water supply entry
The plumber decides the pipe diameter and its route from the meter to the ground or roof tank. We drill a little larger than the pipe’s outside diameter so there is room for a protective sleeve and sealant, and at a level that lets the pipe run straight without sharp bends. If the hole goes through a block boundary wall carried on columns, we place it between two columns after scanning.
Drain holes and the network connection
The common household drain pipe is about 110 mm outside, the size people call a 4 inch pipe, so we core it with a 5 inch class bit. Drain holes need a steady fall, so the plumber sets the entry and exit levels before we drill and we hold them to the millimetre. The pipework itself is covered under our plumbing works.
Power and telecom conduits
Power and telecom holes are the smallest and the most numerous. Put them on the same list even if they look trivial: forcing them through a reinforced concrete wall with an ordinary hand drill is hard work and breaks the edge of the hole, while the rig cuts them cleanly in a few minutes.
⚠ We do not drill near the meter or main cable without checking
Before any hole close to the water meter, the electrical panel or a buried cable route, we locate it by scanning, ask the owner, and isolate the nearby circuit if needed.
Restaurant and shop extractor holes in Abqaiq
An extractor hole for a restaurant or shop in Abqaiq is usually ordered during fit-out, before trading starts. Its diameter comes from the hood supplier or the commercial kitchen designer, based on the hood size and airflow, and it typically falls somewhere between 8 and 12 inches, drilled high on the back wall close to the ceiling.
- Protecting equipment: we cover stainless worktables, appliances and tiles with plastic, because grey slurry leaves marks that are hard to clean off.
- Height: a hole near the ceiling needs a stable scaffold, and the rig is fixed to the wall rather than held by hand.
- What is behind the wall: we confirm what lies on the other side, a rear lane, a neighbouring shop or a power panel, before the bit breaks through.
- Rectangular duct: if the extract duct is a wide rectangle, saw cutting suits it better than coring.
Our advice to shop owners is to fix the hole position with the hood supplier before the tiles go on if possible. Drilling through a tiled wall is perfectly possible, but it needs more care at the edge.
Concrete core sampling in Abqaiq to test an older slab
Concrete core sampling in Abqaiq is a service we carry out when an engineer asks for it: the owner of an older house wants to add a floor or a rooftop annex, or a building shows cracks or corroded bars, and the engineer needs to know the real strength of the concrete rather than the figure on the drawing. Here we are not opening a hole for a pipe; we are extracting an intact cylinder of concrete for an accredited laboratory to test.
Who decides the cores and how many?
The engineer running the assessment decides where the cores come from, how many and at what diameter; we carry it out. The widely used ACI 318 approach takes three cores for each strength result in question and treats the concrete as acceptable if the average of the three is at least 85% of the specified strength and no single core is below 75%. Interpreting those numbers, and deciding whether to build on the slab or strengthen it, stays with the engineer.
How we extract a test core
- 1Scan for rebar
the core must not contain bars, so we map the steel and choose a spot between them. - 2Diameter and length
ASTM C42 calls for a core of at least about 94 mm diameter, with a preferred length close to twice the diameter. - 3Steady wet drilling
a rig anchored on its stand, a water-cooled diamond bit and a gentle feed so the core does not crack. - 4Numbering and bagging
every core is numbered and its position recorded; drilling water is wiped off and the cores are sealed in bags as the standard’s procedure requires. - 5Handover
we pass the cores to the engineer or the laboratory the same day wherever possible. - 6Closing the holes
each core hole is filled with non-shrink repair mortar, and the waterproofing is restored if the core came from the roof.
Where our job ends
We do not issue a strength certificate or rule on whether the slab is fit for use. We extract the core properly and hand it over; the laboratory tests it and the engineer decides. Core testing complements the rebound-hammer survey explained on our renovation contractor in Abqaiq page: the hammer reads surface hardness, while a core gives the strength of the concrete itself.
Test cores are priced once we know their number, diameter and location, so send us the engineer’s request or a photo of it to 0547879578 on WhatsApp, and an estimated cost comes back to you.
Concrete coring in Abqaiq: how the diamond rig works
Concrete coring in Abqaiq means a hollow bit with diamond segments on its rim spinning through the material, cutting a thin ring and lifting out a complete concrete core. There is no hammering and no breaking; the hole comes out at an exact diameter with a smooth edge. That is very different from knocking a hole through with a chisel and hammer, which leaves a ragged opening, shakes the wall and needs repair afterwards.
| Diamond coring | Breaking by hand | |
|---|---|---|
| Hole shape | round, exact diameter | irregular and bigger than needed |
| Effect on the wall | rotation without impact | vibration and repeated blows |
| Dust | little, because drilling is wet | heavy |
| Afterwards | seal around the pipe only | repair the broken edges |
Wet or dry drilling in Abqaiq?
Most of our Abqaiq holes are drilled wet, because water cools the diamond bit and traps the fine silica dust that cutting concrete releases, which is harmful to breathe. A wet vacuum picks the run-off up continuously, keeping floors and façades clean. Dry drilling is reserved for block walls and light partitions in finished homes, where water would harm gypsum or paint, and we use it with a dust extractor connected to the machine. Test cores are always drilled wet on a fixed stand with a gentle feed, so the cylinder comes out with sound ends and no cracks to confuse the laboratory. Before we leave, we show you every core with its number and the position recorded on the sheet.
Drilling holes in walls in Abqaiq
Drilling holes in walls in Abqaiq is governed by the wall material before anything else. Reinforced concrete calls for an anchored rig and water cooling. Block accepts dry drilling with a vacuum when we are worried about paint or gypsum inside. On a boundary wall we choose a position between the columns. In tiled shops we start with a bit suited to the tile so the edge does not chip, then carry on into the wall.
Drilling inside an occupied home in Abqaiq
Many Abqaiq holes are in homes where the family carries on living during the work, so we organise the drilling so the house does not turn into a site. We clear a small area around the hole, lay plastic over the floor and nearby furniture, and clamp a slurry collar round the bit, its hose feeding a wet vacuum, so nothing spreads. If the hole comes out into another room or onto the street, someone watches the far side so the core does not fall on anything. When we finish we lift the plastic and wipe down, leaving nothing behind but the hole itself.
Large rectangular openings, such as a new door, a window or a display opening in a shopfront, are cutting jobs rather than coring. You will find them explained on concrete cutting in Abqaiq.
AC core holes in Abqaiq
An AC core hole in Abqaiq is small in diameter but needs an accurate slope. The reference we use is a well-known manufacturer’s installation manual which gives a 65 mm bore dipping towards the exterior, letting condensate escape. We drill to the slope your AC technician sets, avoid columns and beams, and ease the bit out on the outside so the plaster does not drop away. In shops that need central air, we drill the duct holes at the diameters the technician specifies.
Slab and ceiling coring in Abqaiq
Slab coring in Abqaiq serves drains and supply pipes passing from one floor to the next, and for extractor and ventilation outlets on the roof. We usually drill from above, and a catch tray below takes the falling core and the run-off. Wherever a pipe exits through the roof, a collar must be bonded into the membrane around it, which we can agree as part of our waterproofing service when needed.
⚠ An older slab goes to the engineer first
If the slab is old and shows cracks, rusting bars or spalling cover, we do not recommend coring a large hole in it before an engineer has seen it. The engineer may ask for test cores before any alteration, as described above.
Kitchen and bathroom core holes in Abqaiq
Kitchen and bathroom core holes in Abqaiq homes cover the kitchen hood outlet, the bathroom fan and the drains for basins and floor gullies. Household bathroom fans are generally made for 100 mm ducting and kitchen hoods often run on 150 mm ducting, but the appliance manual is the final reference. For a gas pipe we drill only the hole; the gas line itself is laid and connected by a licensed gas fitter.
Core hole sizes in Abqaiq
Core hole sizes in Abqaiq are set by what passes through them. Here is a short table of the most common requests in town:
| Request | Approximate class | From |
|---|---|---|
| Power or telecom cable | up to 2 inch | SAR 90 |
| Water supply pipe entry | pipe size plus sleeve | SAR 90 |
| Split AC | about 65 mm | SAR 90 |
| 4 inch drain or home kitchen hood | five to six inch | SAR 140 |
| Restaurant hood or medium duct | eight inch | SAR 230 |
| Large restaurant hood or ventilation duct | between 10 and 12 inch | SAR 320 |
| Concrete test cores | as the engineer specifies | after inspection |
A reminder: these opening prices firm up only after a site visit; thickness, reinforcement, working height and hole count all shift them.
Rebar scanning before coring in Abqaiq
Rebar scanning before coring in Abqaiq is a fixed step for every hole and every test core. For ordinary holes we scan to avoid the main bars and buried cables; for test cores we scan because a bar inside the core spoils the test result. We draw the steel pattern on the wall or slab in front of you and show you where we will drill before we start.
- ✓Columns: never cored.
- ✓Beams: cored only on an engineer’s written decision.
- ✓Slabs with tensioned cables: no drilling before a radar scan.
- ✓Exposed or rusting steel: we stop and tell you, as it may need assessing before we continue.
Core drilling prices in Abqaiq
Core drilling prices in Abqaiq begin at the same figures as in Dammam, plus a travel element inside the quote. That element has no fixed rate, because its share of each hole shrinks as the list grows.
| Hole | From |
|---|---|
| Up to about 100 mm (AC line, cables) | SAR 90 |
| 5 or 6 inch | SAR 140 |
| 8 inch | SAR 230 |
| 10, 11 or 12 inch | SAR 320 |
| Above 12 inch, or concrete test cores | set after inspection; send the photos or the engineer’s request on WhatsApp for an estimate |
Important: nothing in this table is final before we inspect and you agree; the quote you receive already carries the travel.
Why does each hole cost less as the list gets longer?
Because most of the cost of working in a town away from our base is the trip itself and preparing the kit, not the minutes spent drilling. If the trip is for one hole, that hole carries the whole journey; if it is for ten, the ten share it. So we encourage you to add any postponed holes and to ask neighbours or nearby shop owners whether they need anything on the same date. General prices are on our prices page.
After drilling in Abqaiq: sealing holes and closing spares
Pulling the core out is not the end of the job. The gap left between the pipe and the side of the hole must be filled, or rainwater gets into the outside wall, drain smells escape, or insects come through the boundary wall. We agree with you before the date exactly how much of this sealing our work includes, so nothing is left hanging between our team and the plumber.
■ Water and power entries
a protective sleeve around the pipe, then a flexible sealant on both faces.
■ Roof holes
a sealing collar tied into the roof waterproofing around every pipe.
■ Extractor holes
sealing around the duct on the outside and a cowl to keep the rain out.
■ Test core holes
non-shrink repair mortar filling the hole completely, with waterproofing restored above it.
If the plumber or technician changes their mind after drilling and a hole is left unused, do not leave it open. Tell us during the same visit and we will close it with a suitable mortar, because closing it later means a separate trip.
Mistakes we often see when ordering core holes in Abqaiq
- Ordering the hole before the diameter is known: the technician then arrives with a bigger pipe and we come back to enlarge the hole or drill another.
- Splitting the job across several visits: one hole today and another next week, each trip carrying its own travel cost.
- Tiling before drilling: then drilling through the tiles, which is possible but slower and more likely to chip the edge.
- Coring a damaged slab without an engineer: especially when the plan is to build on it; it should be assessed first, possibly with test cores.
- Leaving the gap around the pipe unsealed: so seepage or damp appears after the first rain.
Core drilling and concrete cutting in Abqaiq
Core drilling and concrete cutting often meet in a shop fit-out: a core for the hood, a cut for a display opening in the front, and small holes for power. Coring is for round holes; the diamond saw is for rectangular openings, doors, windows and square slab openings. If your list includes both, tell us from the start and both sets of equipment travel together. More detail: concrete cutting in Abqaiq and our concrete cutting service.
Core drilling contractor in Abqaiq: signs of serious work
- ✓Asks for the list and photos before the date: rather than just “we will come and see”.
- ✓Scans for rebar and shows you the pattern: before drilling begins.
- ✓Drills on a stand-mounted rig: for reinforced walls, large holes and test cores.
- ✓States what the price covers: drilling only, or sealing and closing as well.
- ✓Knows the limits: does not overrule the engineer on a beam or a damaged slab, and does not claim to issue a lab report.
Be wary of offers of “laser coring”; drilling concrete is done with a diamond bit, and a laser is only a levelling and marking tool.
How to order core drilling in Abqaiq
- 1Write the hole list
using the table at the top of this page: location, purpose, diameter, thickness and floor. - 2Attach photos and the engineer’s request if any
one near and one distant photo of each spot, plus the engineer’s sheet if test cores are needed. - 3Message 0547879578 on WhatsApp
include the map pin and two or three dates that work for you. - 4Get the estimate and a date
travel included; we may suggest a day that groups other Abqaiq work. - 5Prepare the site
power, a water source, covering what is needed in the shop, and someone to open up. - 6Handover
check every hole, receive the numbered cores if any, and we close whatever was agreed.
Is your Abqaiq hole list ready?
Share it along with pictures and a pin; we will arrange a single trip that completes all holes and cores.
Why Aemar Al-Maryam in Abqaiq?
■ One visit, one complete list
We arrive ready for every hole on the list, so trips are not repeated.
■ Test cores done properly
Scanning, numbering, bagging and handover, with the core holes filled afterwards.
■ Care in shops
Stainless, tiles and equipment protected from water and slurry.
■ Published starting prices
And you know the travel cost before the date.
The projects gallery shows photos of work we have carried out, and our core drilling service page covers the service in full.
Abqaiq and around: where we reach
We serve Abqaiq and its surroundings by appointment and group nearby requests into one trip. Send your exact location pin; that is all we need to plan the route. All our services are listed on the Abqaiq area page. If you also have work in Al-Ahsa, see core drilling in Al-Ahsa, and for the full guide to hole types and cases, read core drilling in Dammam.
Pages to read before you book
Tags
