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The Metal Initiative - Where Metal Really Shines

BUILDING OWNER NEWSLETTER
July, 2008

Welcome to another issue of "Where Metal REALLY Shines," an electronic newsletter for building owners and managers prepared by The Metal Initiative, a coalition of companies and trade associations formed to educate owners about the use and selection of metal roof and wall systems in commercial buildings.

Coated steel is by far the most widely used metal for roofing due to its strength, durability, formability and long service life (40 years or more). In this issue, we discuss metallic coatings for carbon steel - the various types, advantages and performance characteristics.

Steel typically has a metal coating to keep it from corroding when exposed to air and moisture. Some metal coatings provide "barrier" protection that prevents air and moisture from reaching the steel. Other metal coatings provide "sacrificial" protection, an electrochemical phenomenon that protects the steel at the expense of the coating metal.

Here are the most common types of metallic coatings for steel:

  • Zinc, which when used as a coating on steel, creates galvanized. Galvanized offers both barrier and sacrificial protection, and can last up to 50 or 60 years.
  • Aluminum, which provides barrier - but not sacrificial - protection against corrosion, and which can outperform in salt or acid environments.
  • Aluminum/zinc alloy, which when used on steel, creates Galvalume®, a product that blends the barrier protection of aluminum with the sacrificial properties of zinc to provide better weathering properties than galvanized.
  • "Terne", tin/lead or tin/zinc alloy used over special copper-bearing steel. It combines the cost-efficiency of steel with excellent ductility and solderability

Regardless of the type of metal coating used on steel, once the coating is depleted, the useful life of the roof can typically be extended with a field-applied coating.

For more information about metallic coatings on steel roofing, be sure to see our white paper: "Metallic Coatings for Carbon Steel."

Download The Metal Initiative whitepaperThe Metal Initiative


Click here to visit The Metal Initiative website for comparative cost data, performance information, case histories, and other information on metal roofs and walls.

 
The Metal Initiative