A revamp of Kings Beach in Caloundra, QLD, has had a gleaming response, with stainless steel a major contributor to the brand new look.
Initial stages included new seats, hand railing and some draining, but the most recent instalment focussed on the beach-side swimming pool and recreational area with balustrades all around. Although 2 or 3 different builders have been used during the project to date,
ASSDA Accredited Fabricator Paige Stainless was involved with all stages. Kilometres of stainless steel tube was used to fence the 98 metre pool circumference with top and bottom rails and railings.
“There was also some peripheral work, such as seats and railings that lead into the pool area,” says Kevin Finn of Paige Stainless.
Kevin says that whilst the end result of stainless steel looks great, the builders had little choice but to use the material.
“They did look at aluminium for the pool fencing. Stainless steel was certainly the most expensive but with the corrosive environment and longevity required, it was imperative that they use stainless steel.”
The project used only grade 316, supplied by ASSDA members Atlas Specialty Metals and Tube Sales at both 600 and 800 grit polishes to help prevent tea staining.
The unique setting of the pool (located on the beach), meant fabrication was largely done onsite.
“Because of the different shapes of the pool and the way we had to configure the posts for the fencing, we couldn’t manufacture panels in the workshop,” says Kevin. “It would have been too disjointed so, instead, we rolled the shapes to the outline, cut them to length and then physically made it on site to ensure the most accurate fit.”
Some work had to be scheduled around tide times as the pool sits 10 feet from sea level with the fence right on the edge. To get around this, Kevin said every second post was welded from the inside with the remaining posts completed on the outside.
To further help protect the job from tea staining, the welds were hand passivated with a gel and then coated with three different coatings from the Cyndan Rapelle range. These coatings were “Stainless Steel Cleaner”, “Cleans All” and “Stainless Steel Sentry”.
Following installation, the Council was provided with a maintenance schedule, including recommendations for the use of these products.
This article featured in Australian Stainless Issue 40.
