I have an architect that would like to use aluminum stairs at the exterior near the loading dock. Has anybody heard of such a product? I am trying to convince him to use galvanized steel.
Try JOMY Products, Inc. at www.jomy.com.
There are a number of manufacturers out there doing this sort of thing. Their primary market is refineries and sewage treatment plants.
We have been switching to such products for exterior ladders, but the feedback we get is that they are substantially more expensive.
Here is one company that the project architect found. I still prefer galvanized steel.
David
You must not do too much work in Florida - Aluminum Exterior Stairs much preferred over galvanized which simply does not last more than a couple of years due to all the salt in the air. Many local metal fabricators in the state offer aluminum stair products.
Jerome,
I barely do work outside of the Puget Sound area. Being near salt water I can’t figured out why Seattle is not a corrosive environment like other coastal cities. My guess is that the frequent rain washes away any trace of salt. I also don’t understand why it it not humid here in the summer. I guess that I better study my meteorology.
David
Near the Ocean in the summer and no humidity - sign me up
Jerry, and David:
I’m from here (Seattle) and until I went to Florida when I was 29 years old, I didn’t even know it COULD rain in the summer – I thought summers were “dry” by definition. (and that rain only occurred in winter months)
However: the prevailing winds in the four summer months in Seattle come from the North and as such come over a dry area and go out to sea – so that the moist air is being held away from the coast here. Also, the Pacific is colder, and the air around it holds less salt than the warmer southern ocean air. We do not have other corrosive components (ie, acid rain) in the climate in the northwest. I’m sure that if you talked with industrial coatings folks you would find plenty of evidence of corrosion just the same.
We have, here in Boston, acid rain and lots of humidity and on-shore breezes. No one uses aluminum stairs. Gets me to thinking though…
Here in Baltimore I can’t begin to count the galvanized steel stairs that need to be replaced due to rusting. We try to tell the Owners to use concrete, but…$$$