corten 22 ga. 7/8" corrugated as siding
- Thread starter Jackfre
- Start date
Strouty
Well-known member
I had no idea they made it in thin panels. I new they use it for heavy stuff, I like the idea. Time for some google action.
readhead
Well-known member
Have you priced it? It will stain everything under it. If you plan to use it for siding you might consider cold rolled for a lot less money. There can be a lot of details like outlets, lights, faucets, etc to pay attention to. You may have guessed that I have done some of this. There are a lot more details than I can go into here but a quality install is very involved.
CGT80
Well-known member
Corten park signs "in the white" after blasting with sand:
I spent the day applying a patina to the signs to pre rust them.
The face frames that will cover the edges of the graphic panels.
Tomorrow, these will get a few coats of clear.
I did a bit of research on Corten before taking on this project. It does stain concrete and other surfaces. If water is not allowed to drain or evaporate, it will rust through. Corten requires a specific welding wire to match the color and corrosion resistant quality of the base metal.
Corten is a brand name and the generic is "weathering steel." The steel sat outside for about a month before I started to build the signs. It developed a nice, natural, patina. It had a black powdery substance on it when I got it, rather than an oily feel. The square tube and angle was purchased from Alabama and trucked to California. My local steel shop had the sheet available. I used 3/16" sheet and 3" tube, and 11 ga 1" tube. Each sign weighs around 120 ponds, without the face frame.
Corten takes a while to naturally rust. After a few years, it is supposed to have developed a rust layer that will not go any deeper. Some buildings have rusted through due to moisture. This customer wanted corten, but they must have not wanted the draw backs of it, hence the patina and clear coat. The clear coat runs upwards of $100 a gallon depending on where you get it and some people claim it will last up to 10 years. I used it on set of gates that I built out of mild steel tube. For those gates, I used a different patina.
The corten would have probably rusted quickly after being sand blasted, but I didn't have days or weeks to wait for it to rust. The blasted finish took patina much better than the spots I ground with a flap disc after blasting. On the gates, I removed the mill scale with a surfacing disc on my 5" grinder, but it left a smooth finish that was almost polished. I did a test sample with my blast cabinet and glass bead and it turned out nice and uniform, but that was on mild steel. The mill scale on the steel does not rust as well as the ground or sand blasted steel. Using a grinder is a major pain as well. Luckily I have some family that owns a blasting company. They do small jobs at their shop, but mostly do work on turbines and other parts for power plants, on location. Sand left a nice rough finish and was the least expensive option for media.
There are companies who make siding or roofing in steel that is painted to look like corten. I have not seen it in person so I don't know if it is anywhere close to the look of the real deal.
I spent the day applying a patina to the signs to pre rust them.
The face frames that will cover the edges of the graphic panels.
Tomorrow, these will get a few coats of clear.
I did a bit of research on Corten before taking on this project. It does stain concrete and other surfaces. If water is not allowed to drain or evaporate, it will rust through. Corten requires a specific welding wire to match the color and corrosion resistant quality of the base metal.
Corten is a brand name and the generic is "weathering steel." The steel sat outside for about a month before I started to build the signs. It developed a nice, natural, patina. It had a black powdery substance on it when I got it, rather than an oily feel. The square tube and angle was purchased from Alabama and trucked to California. My local steel shop had the sheet available. I used 3/16" sheet and 3" tube, and 11 ga 1" tube. Each sign weighs around 120 ponds, without the face frame.
Corten takes a while to naturally rust. After a few years, it is supposed to have developed a rust layer that will not go any deeper. Some buildings have rusted through due to moisture. This customer wanted corten, but they must have not wanted the draw backs of it, hence the patina and clear coat. The clear coat runs upwards of $100 a gallon depending on where you get it and some people claim it will last up to 10 years. I used it on set of gates that I built out of mild steel tube. For those gates, I used a different patina.
The corten would have probably rusted quickly after being sand blasted, but I didn't have days or weeks to wait for it to rust. The blasted finish took patina much better than the spots I ground with a flap disc after blasting. On the gates, I removed the mill scale with a surfacing disc on my 5" grinder, but it left a smooth finish that was almost polished. I did a test sample with my blast cabinet and glass bead and it turned out nice and uniform, but that was on mild steel. The mill scale on the steel does not rust as well as the ground or sand blasted steel. Using a grinder is a major pain as well. Luckily I have some family that owns a blasting company. They do small jobs at their shop, but mostly do work on turbines and other parts for power plants, on location. Sand left a nice rough finish and was the least expensive option for media.
There are companies who make siding or roofing in steel that is painted to look like corten. I have not seen it in person so I don't know if it is anywhere close to the look of the real deal.
CGT80 is correct about the brand name issue, also it can be very difficult to acquire in the lighter gauges. When I started working as a sheet metal worker we did a few Beef & Brew roofs out of it and they ended up with leaks due to the product rusting through on the light gauge so I don't even know if 22 ga is still being made. Have used a far amount of Corten 10 (14ga and heavier)on paper machine hoods as it handles moist heat fairly well but it was almost as expensive as 304 stainless steel.
CGT80
Well-known member
The 3/16 corten sheet was around $1.29 per pound. The angle was a better price than what I bought a single piece of mild steel angle locally for, of course I bought about 1500 pounds worth in that order, so that brings the price down. Thinner material may be more expensive. The prices seem to get better as I buy more weight.
Well, I bought 44 pieces of the 22 ga 36" panel. That gives a 32" coverage. I also bought corners. I looked at the galvalum and others but felt we'd be blinded by the light. The building is very exposed to sunlight. I first became aware of corten when Cornell Univ built a library out of it back probably in the early 70's. There were about 5'deep C10 I beams that pretty much were the entire building along with a lot of glass. Looked great and I've always been interested in it.I'll keep you posted on how it goes.