THE QUESTION

THE MIDWEST ANSWER

1.

Why is my galvanizing very dull in color sometimes and shiny silver other times?

The chemistry of steel is where the color is derived from. Sometimes things like immersion time, derivatives in the bath, such as nickel or aluminum can help with coloration. Please keep in mind, galvanizing is a corrosion protection coating, not necessarily an aesthetic coating. Eventually, the galvanized material will all turn to its natural shade of beautiful gray.

2.

Why does the galvanizer need holes all over my material?

A galvanizer does not necessarily want to add holes to material. We prefer the material to have the proper venting for drainage of the zinc and our acids prior to receiving the material. As in ASTM-A385 material needs holes, not only to enable the galvanizer to hang the material, but to be able to safely galvanize the material. The entrapments of acids or fluxes in a structural member can not only lead to bad galvanizing, but the trapped water will turn in to steam exposion causing a dangerous situation for the galvanizer.

3.

How much does it cost?

The cost of galvanizing varies in different parts of the country. However, when comparing the price of coating systems, galvanizing has proven to be more economical than a typical paint system consisting of a near-white blast, an epoxy prime coat with a polyurethane topcoat. A galvanizer prices his material based on the labor intensive issues, special handling, size, and weight. Just remember, when we price your galvanizing work, it includes all unloading, cleaning, coating and packaging and reloading that is needed for the project. The "life-cycle" cost savings of hot dip galvanizing, as compared to paint has been proven thousands of time in both the public and private segment of our economy. Just look at the failure rate of paint vs the longevity of galvanized products. It is a common mith or fallacy that galvanizing is too expensive. On the contrary it the Your first cost, and it will be your last cost.

4.

What do you mean when you say you want to burn off my material?

"Burn-off" is a terminology used by hot dip galvanizers, which means there is some sort of foreign matter on your material such as paint stick, lacquer coating, excessive mill scale, etc. that will not come off in our conventional cleaning methods. At this point, the galvanizer's only choice is to take it directly to the galvanizing kettle and physically "burn" the material off with the 835 degree molten zinc bath. This is not only costly because the zinc must now be cleaned off in our pickling solutions, but the loss of production is very expensive. We would prefer if a fabricator has some of the above conditions, he chooses to either get his material blasted first or supply a more "galvanizing-friendly" material to begin with. Call to understand more about what "galvanizing-friendly" would mean.

5.

If Hot Dip Galvanizing is so great, why don't I see more of it?

We feel galvanized steel is a very attractive alternative and has become very trendy today, but if aesthetics is what you are after, painting could still be your answer. If corrosion protection and long-life is what you are looking for, galvanizing is the only answer. To have both worlds, explore our website.