A local DFW steel fabricator and his wife wanted to find the perfect spot on the Texas Gulf Coast and design a residential summer house they call "Heaven on Earth" for their children and grandchildren to enjoy for years to come. They picked a grand spot with a view of the Gulf of Mexico, in the gated community named Islands of Rockport, in Rockport, TX. The builder knew the owner was a steel fabricator and tasked him to design and build a steel staircase for the second story bayside patio. This would be a part of their home the fabricator truly designed and fabricated himself.

So, the work began. A stair was needed from the ocean front and pool level up to the second story patio balcony. A decision was to be made on materials for the staircase. His first choice was Stainless Steel, but with Covid shortages and the price escalating to over $4.00/lb., he needed another cost-effective option that would be resistant to the harsh environmental conditions, such as saltwater, tropical storms and hurricane force winds. As a steel fabricator, he knew the benefits and added value of hot-dip galvanized steel.

HDG Coatings not only offer a durable barrier protection, but it offers a cathodic protection as well as a zinc patina and would be the best corrosion protection system to endure the corrosive elements of the Texas coastline. The fabricator had designed a complex spiral staircase with fully welded connections, surrounded by plate, with artistic cutouts from a plasma cutter. The artistic plate acts as a barrier for the staircase as well as a handrail. Another innovative design in the staircase was a shower in the center of the spiral staircase to wash off the saltwater or chlorine from the pool, before going upstairs. With the complex design and size of the staircase, the fabricator had to bring in his local galvanizing team to help with draining and venting designs, bracing, lifting lugs as well as exact dimensions in order to fit in the process tanks and galvanizing kettle. The staircase maximized the width and depth of one of the larger galvanizing kettles in the United States and needed to be handled with care though out the entire process. The staircase was hot-dip galvanized, without any damage and looked great.

The fabricator still had the prevailing southeast wind and saltwater on his mind. Understanding, although HDG is one of the best corrosion protection systems on the market, it still corrodes in saltwater environments. He decided to look into a duplex coating option over the galvanized staircase. His local galvanizing team's sister company is a powder coating operation next door with the largest powder coat oven in the United States. Again, the size of the staircase could be a factor to have powder coated. The fabricator was assured by the powder coat team that the staircase would fit in the oven and a super durable powder with his RAL color of choice would be used. The Powder Coating team properly treated the galvanized surface before applying powder, to ensure the duplex coated staircase meets and exceeds ASTM D7803.

The staircase was powder coated to match the house and he now has a duplex coated spiral staircase that really pleases the local HOA. The duplex coating provides a corrosion protection known as the synergistic effect. The Powder adds an additional barrier protection greatly extending the life of the hot-dip galvanized steel. The underlying galvanized coating is now acting as a mobile primer to prevent pinhole corrosion and peeling effect often seen on bare steel that has been powder coated. The synergistic effect provides corrosion protection to the substrate steel for 1.5 to 2.3 times the expected life of each system alone.

The fabricator and his wife now have a summer residence on the Texas Coastline, where his children and grandchildren can enjoy summers for many years to come. The duplex coated steel staircase, designed and built by the homeowner not only matches the house, but is ready to stand the test of time sitting just 25' from the salty spray of the Gulf of Mexico.