Chose galvanized straps over stainless for a beachside deck job

Had a client in Ventura who wanted a commercial deck done on a budget. I pushed for stainless since we were 200 yards from the ocean, but they said galvanized was fine. 8 months later I got a call about rust stains running down the support posts. Now I'm redoing the whole thing with stainless and the client is paying double. Anyone else have a spec battle with a client that came back to bite them?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler_wilson19d ago

Hold on though... galvanized can actually hold up fine if you use the right thickness and keep it off direct ground contact. I've seen plenty of coastal decks with galvanized that lasted years before any real trouble. Sounds like maybe the install had some other issues too, not just the straps.

kim_west19d ago

Right, because nothing says "built to last" like hoping the zinc coating holds up long enough for the rust to forget where it lives. I've seen plenty of "years of service" too, usually followed by "until the salt air remembered it was there." Maybe the install was fine, maybe the straps were just on a tight schedule to get themselves retired early. Either way, galvanized and coastal air have a real "it's complicated" relationship.