As life continues to be innovative, traditional methods to create products must also keep up and improve. Gone are the days where people were easily satisfied with the simplicity of small homes, brick roads and buildings that are few floors tall. These days people want mansion sized homes, bridges that stretch over rivers and buildings reaching the clouds. With such demands, simple brick building methods can no longer cut it. Therefore, most civil engineer and construction managers have opted to use strong and durable metals, one, in particular, is galvanised steel.
What is galvanised steel you may ask? According to the IQS Newsroom galvanised steel is steel that has undergone chemical processing to make it corrosion resistant. It is coated with layers of zinc oxide which will provide it with a protective surface that can protect the metal from rusting and give it a more durable and scratch free finish. There are a few methods that can be used to create this product; the most popular is through hot-dipped galvanization. In this method, the galvanised steel is created from submerging the steel into melted zinc. This process allows the zinc to permanently bond to the metal, not only on the surface but within the steel itself, making a secure and complete bond. Other methods include continuous sheet galvanising, painting or spraying on the zinc and electroplating.
Among its any benefits, here are a few reasons why galvanised steel can be an advantage in your building process.
Total Protection – With hot dip galvanising, every millimetre of the steel it touches is galvanised, which means the hot dip galvanising process reaches areas inaccessible to other similar processes for preventing rusting and corrosion.
Less Maintenance – The galvanised coating of cold rolled steel, using the hot dip galvanising process ensures it will never shrink or crack because it is metallurgically bonded to the steel it protects. It also offers superior resistance to abrasion and water.
Lowest First Cost – Hot dip galvanising is lower in first cost than many other commonly specified protective coatings for steel.
Lowest Long Term Cost – Even in cases where the initial cost of hot-dip galvanising is higher than alternative coatings, hot dip galvanising is almost invariably more cost effective in the long term because it lasts longer and needs less maintenance.
Ease of Inspection – Hot dip galvanised coatings are assessed readily by eye, and simple non-destructive thickness testing methods can be used.
Long Life – The life expectancy of galvanised coatings on typical structural members is far more than 50 years in most rural environments, and 20 to 25 years plus, even in severe urban and coastal exposure.
For more info or quotation please feel free to contact us at marketing@jcproofing.co.za or 010 040 8324