In Cyprus the distance to the water is as much a specification as height and wall thickness. Two hundred metres from the sea and two kilometres from it are homes to different metals.
Not humidity itself, but salt in the air: fine droplets settle on the surface, pull in moisture and keep a permanent electrolyte on the metal. Add ultraviolet, which dries out and embrittles coatings, and the daily temperature swing that makes paint and steel expand at different rates.
Next to a pool, chlorine joins the salt. It is more aggressive than sea salt and it works all year, not only when the wind comes off the sea.
Good at everything except one thing: it protects while it is intact. Any scratch down to bare metal becomes a place where rust travels under the coating, and it only becomes visible once the blister is already large. In an inner courtyard or under a canopy, paint lasts for years. In an open spot near the water it is one or two seasons to the first rust streaks.
Zinc protects not with a film but with itself: it sacrifices itself electrochemically for the steel, so a scratch does not start creeping corrosion underneath. It is the best ratio of cost to life for anything standing outdoors — fences, solar frames, brackets, ladders. The price difference from paint is a few per cent; the difference in life is years.
Aluminium does not rust at all and is a third of the weight, but it is softer and worse under point loads: for a heavy tank or a bracket carrying a large unit it is specified with extra section. AISI 304 stainless is fine everywhere except direct contact with salt water; on the front line and by the pool you need AISI 316 with molybdenum. It costs more, and there is simply nothing else that works there.
The most common mistake is a galvanised or stainless structure hung on black bolts. Within a year rust streaks run down the facade, and it looks as though the whole structure has failed. Fixings should be no worse than the parent metal, and welds get a zinc-rich coat afterwards: zinc always burns away in the weld.
Catalogue prices are what the model works out, not a price tag: nothing is in stock, every piece is welded to size. The final price is agreed personally.
A shower post by the pool or at the beach house. Galvanised, aluminium or stainless — next to salt water that is not decoration.
Bracket for the outdoor unit: up to 12,000, 18,000 BTU or more. With an anti-theft cage if the unit sits on the ground floor.
Frame for a 120–200 litre tank, flat roof or pitched. With wind bracing so the winter gusts leave the collector alone.
Bench with or without a backrest, timber or checker-plate seat. Pairs with the table or stands alone by the pool.
All welding services
We work across all Cyprus
Based in Larnaca — I travel to every town and village in Cyprus with full equipment and a generator on board.