Taking Care of Your Metal Fence In Melbourne
We all need some LTC – Love, Tender and Care. At least we do! When it comes to fencing installation or the aftercare, be it residential, commercial or industrial metal fencing in Melbourne, it all comes down to a little bit of love! But how exactly do we prolong the lifecycle of our metal fencing in Melbourne?
Prevention is the key. It applies to many things in life, and metal fencing is no exceptions. When installing metal fence either as a part of commercial fencing or residential fencing, there are many ways to start on the right foot. It starts with choosing the right fencing type or solutions for your property. Tubular steel decorative fencing, storage enclosure fencing, security fencing, wire swing gates, factory partitions, wire swing gates, or even safety barriers, whatever is your choice or need, there are preventive methods you can apply.
First one is the metal fence powder coating. Easy words, complicated meaning. Powder coating is a type of metal finishing applied on a steel as a free-flowing, dry powder. Why is steel powder coating better than the liquid coating? Powder coating doesn’t require a solvent to keep the binder and filler parts in a liquid suspension form. We love being environmentally friendly and powder coating process allows us to do exactly that!
You can powder coat tubular steel decorative fencing or tubular steel gates, or even safety barriers to make sure that they stand out to keep the safety level high on commercial or industrial building sites, as there is a wide range of colours offered for powder coatings. Also if you want to make your welded mesh gate or a welded mesh panel fence look nice and different, or maybe just to merge with the surrounding environment and to be unnoticeable, powder coating is a way to go.
Why is powder coating beneficial? Firstly it’s a cost effective alternative to painting and as mentioned it’s the “green” way of giving your fence a look you desire. Being “green” and pretty on the surface is not all you need to know. Powder coating is a durable fence protections from rust and corrosion. While the paint can wear off in time under the different weather conditions, powder coating is resistant to scratching, chipping, fading and other kind of wear and tear. At the same time powder coating protects the fence form sun’s UV rays. Win-win I would say!
Once you have the powder coat on, how can you offer some LTC to your fencing application? Relatively easy. Powder coated fences are easy to clean and maintain. All you need is some soapy water. Wash the pollen and dust off with it and then give it a good rinse, and you are good to go for another 6 months.
When it comes to chain wire gates or chain link fencing, one way to make your fencing applications last longer, is galvanizing. Instead of using just wire gates, you can substitute them with galvanized wire gates, and the same applies to chain wire fence. Why using galvanized wire fencing is more beneficial? Or let’s start by asking: what is galvanizing? Similar to powder coating, this is one of the best ways to protect residential metal fencing, or industrial metal fencing from corrosion. It involves applying thin coating of zinc to a metal, shielding it from the surrounding environment this way.
In a more simple words, galvanizing gives metal an anti-corrosion properties. Without this protective zinc coating you metal fence could oxidise and corrode much faster. Why is zinc important? Well, it prevents water and moisture in the air from corroding the steel underneath. But be aware that if this zinc coating will be scratched deep enough exposing the metal, the corrosion might get to it.
Keeping that in mind, how can we offer some LTC to galvanized wire gates and fences? Even with the protective zinc coating, it can still get dirty and needs cleaning regularly. Cleaning is a way to increase the longevity of galvanised fencing. Using water and a simple rag dipped in it should remove the dirt. Please bare in mind not using harsh cleaners. A cleaner with a pH more than 12-13 can begin to dissolve zinc on your galvanized fence. Also over-washing will make the zinc coating to wear out and make the fence open to the corrosion.
If you are still not satisfied, and want to give an extra protective coat, then you can use PVC coated chain wire, or plastic coated chain wire in simple words.
If you have payed attention to the prevention, have chosen the right fencing type and a protective coating, but still let’s say your building site metal fencing in Melbourne needs some fixing up, then Diamond Fence can help you out with fence & gate repairs. We are well-known fencing experts in the Melbourne area and can perform any general repairs to wire fencing and gates.
So whether you have an inquiry about your residential steel fencing, commercial metal fencing in Melbourne, or industrial fencing instead, call us on (03) 9753 4566 , write us an email on info@diamondfence.com.au , or just get a FREE online quote.
