View Single Post
  #71  
Old Posted Feb 2, 2012, 9:46 PM
SLO's Avatar
SLO SLO is offline
REAL Kiwi!
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: California & Texas
Posts: 17,085
Quote:
Originally Posted by plinko View Post
^I've only done one other residential canopy out of steel and it was years ago. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it and the firm is now defunct so I likely never will.

My approach to these is to use standard steel sizes (bar stock, tubes, beams) and connection rods wherever possible, but the designs of all the components are always custom. My first job out of school was at a firm that did alot of these types of things on commercial buildings and so I got pretty good at detailing steel. In my experience, while a factory applied finish is desired, these things tend to be far too complicated to construct in full and then set in place. There are just too many adjustments to be done in the field with welds and fitting and whatnot. So they are usually delivered just primed and then field painted. On that last orange canopy I did for GNC the contractor (cheap bastard) really pissed me off because he had it hand painted. It looked like hell so I made him do like 4 coats. It still doesn't look right but unfortunately the owner didn't care. I'm probably the only person that will ever notice.

BTW, rolling is absurdly expensive for something like this but occasionally you can get a client to pay for it. Using a little bit of geometry by rotating flat pieces you can get pieces that appear to curve or have some fluidity though.

SLO, I'm curious...have you worked long enough yet to have one of your projects demolished?
Good stuff, that makes sense. Information like that is invaluable, you can only learn it having done it at least once. I wondered about finishing, sometimes seeing aluminum or what looks like stainless steel, I guess those may be different. I love rolled steel, the only steel Ive had rolled is lintels for cast stone, wide eyebrows or elliptical arches. I'll have to scan a picture for you sometime, the detail was from the cast stone mfr, but basically we rolled steel angle iron installed it and bolted the cast stone from the top, hiding it with the finished masonry. The result is hidden steel and no linear seems in the cast stone. I thought it was a cool detail.

I dont know of any projects demolished that Ive done. Remodels, for sure, but no demolitions that I know of. Why, have you had that happen recently?
__________________
'Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*ck things up' - Barack Obama
Reply With Quote