How to Cut and Remove Brick: 5 Methods

Learning how to cut brick does not have to be difficult. Excising a single brick while leaving the surrounding bricks intact and in good shape can be tricky but it is required when repairing or replacing bricks in a fireplace, or wall, or when one needs to be removed to make space for vents, pipes, or outlets. Knowing how to cut bricks to size is also a skill needed for projects, such as building brick patios, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, pathways, or walls. With determination and only a few basic tools, you can cut and remove an installed brick or cut single bricks to specified sizes with flawless results.

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5 Methods of Cutting Bricks

The best tools to cut into most types of brick include circular saws, angle grinders, reciprocating saws, multi-tools, and chisels. The popular choice of cutting and removing a single brick from a wall manually with a masonry chisel is the first method shown below.

Each tool has its pros and cons:

• Circular saw: A circular saw fitted with a masonry or diamond blade will cut both brick and mortar, producing clean lines but also creating a great amount of debris and noise. Using a circular saw to cut through brick offers cutting depths but it will also cause significant wear and tear on the tool, even with the correct blade.
• Angle grinder: An angle grinder with a masonry wheel also will cut through both the brick and the mortar when removing a brick and allow for tighter angles when cutting bricks. However, debris blowback is significant and can cause a mess if used indoors. An angle grinder does not provide the cutting depth that a circular saw offers.
• Reciprocating saw: A reciprocating saw with a masonry cutting blade can cut relatively straight lines when the saw is held firmly. But while reciprocating saws allow for plunge cuts in materials like drywall, they don't work as well for masonry walls. It's best to use a reciprocating saw with the correct blade to cut through brick when in a wall to remove it rather than using it to cut a single brick down to size.
• Multi-tool: A high-quality multi-tool equipped with a masonry attachment does allow for plunge cuts and can be a good way to get the cut started. Use a multi-tool to easily cut through mortar when removing a brick.
• Masonry chisel: Cutting brick out of a wall by hand with a masonry chisel (also called a brick chisel) and a drill takes patience but it offers finer control of the process. Using a masonry chisel is also a great way to cut bricks in half or at an angle.

Manually Cutting Installed Brick

The secret to removing a complete brick from a brick wall or brick fireplace is to cut the surrounding mortar. Dried and set mortar is softer than brick and it cuts away predictably. Once the mortar is removed, the entire brick is extracted quite easily. However, if your goal is to remove only a portion of the brick, you must remove the mortar as well as sever the brick in a clean line, all without causing the brick to crumble into little pieces.

Make sure to use a genuine masonry chisel. Neither a wood chisel nor a cold chisel (designed for metal) is appropriate for this job. Using either runs the risk of shattering the tool and potentially sending metal fragments flying. This tool is typically a heavier chisel with a more blunt cutting edge designed for breaking mortar, stone, and brick. A masonry chisel can be used to cut brick without any power tools by hammering the back of the chisel into the brick.

Safety Considerations

When manually cutting out a brick or into a brick, take safety precautions by wearing safety glasses, hearing protection, and thick gloves. Drilling or cutting into brick produces a lot of dust, so also wear a dust mask. Be patient and go slowly. 

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For anyone who will be cutting brick, stone, concrete, etc.. Using a masonry saw for the first time, you should know that the process isn’t very complicated. In fact, well-made machines are designed to be quite user friendly. That being said, there are a few essential tips you should have handy in order to make sure that everything goes smoothly the first time you try out a masonry cutting saw.

In this article, we’ve put together five basic but very important tips to keep in mind before, during and even after cutting.

5 important tips for new masonry cutting saw users

1. Use the right masonry cutting saw blade

All masonry saws require a diamond blade in order to cut through brick, stone, concrete, and other similar materials. However, not all diamond blades are the same! In addition to making sure the blade is the correct size for your masonry cutting saw, you should also try to choose a blade that is specifically indicated for whatever you are cutting. On the microscopic level, marble is very different from, say, porcelain.

Also, note that most masonry blades are designed for wet cutting. You can use a dry cutting blade for wet cutting, but not the other way around. This is very important! See tip #4 for details.

2. It’s called ‘wet cutting’ for a reason

Masonry saws come with either a built-in water tank and pump, or an attachment for your garden hose. Wet cutting is preferable over dry in almost all situations, because of safety and practicality. This means it’s important to check the water level before you start using the masonry cutting saw, and test the pump to make sure water will flow freely over the blade once you start to cut.

3. Slow and steady wins the race

Some people are tempted to push their bricks into the blade with a lot of pressure to try to make it cut faster. Resist this temptation. It’s bad for the blade, can result in chipping with certain materials, and can even cause a safety hazard. Let the masonry saw determine the cutting speed, and just guide the brick gently into the blade.

4. If you absolutely must do a dry cut…

Dry cutting should be avoided if at all possible. But if you need to do it in some extenuating circumstance, you need to do things a bit differently. Firstly, it is mandatory to use a diamond blade specifically labeled for dry cutting. Secondly, it is also mandatory to wear a good respirator mask; in addition to standard protective gear like safety glasses. Third, you won’t be able to cut for more than a few seconds at a time without the blade overheating, so work in short, shallow passes with cooling time in between.

5. Sharpen the masonry cutting saw blade like this

If you are using the right blade for your material and wet cutting, you shouldn’t need to sharpen your blade. But sometimes it does happen that the metal holding the diamonds onto the blade softens and deforms, covering up the diamonds and keeping them from doing their job. In this case, you can use the masonry cutting saw to cut through a dressing wheel, an old grinding wheel, or something made from silicon carbide, just as you normally would cut. This should abrade the metal, exposing the diamonds so you can continue cutting.

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