Technical Information

Galvanizing costs are usually based on a rate per Kg of galvanized steel. The weight of the galvanized steel can usually be estimated by adding 5-10% to your fabricated steel weight.

The first step of the process is to clean the steel. If the steel has coatings like paint, lacquer oil or zinc, these need to be removed before we can dip the item. The removal process is charged as a surcharge per Kg of galvanized steel. RHS, Pipe and mesh are the three main culprits for pre-clean surcharges.

Once we have cleaned the steel, the next process is to dip the steel into the bath of molten zinc. Each header of steel that is dipped attracts roughly the same overhead costs. The more weight under each header, then the lower the rate per Kg of steel that can be charged to cover the costs of the dip. Items like large frames made from small section RHS (eg 25×25 SHS) are usually very light and take up a great deal of space – these sorts of fabricated items will attract high rates per Kg. A large 900WB will obviously weigh much more per volume and so will be at a lower rate per Kg.

Double end dip. If the item is too large to fit in a single dip, it can sometimes be double end dipped. This means we put one end in and then the other. This is double the amount of handling and so costs more to complete. Please see the Technical information page under the design menu for graphs showing what size items need double end dipping.