Dead Rising Observatory

The Dead Rising Observatory has always been a dream for Ryan Uptmor. As a part time photographer, his passion has always been trying to photograph the skies. Over a span of 18 months, Ryan designed, engineered, and built this observatory in his back yard. With the knowledge he would be installing over $40,000 in equipment inside this facility, he needed a building material for his retractable roof that would last over 15 years and have no maintenance during that time frame.

After some research, he realized hot-dip galvanizing would provide him both the protection and maintenance requirements needed.

Ryan knew every time he opened his roof the structural components would be completely exposed to the environment. He considered using either painted steel or galvanized steel. After some research, he realized hot-dip galvanizing would provide him both the protection and maintenance requirements needed.

Over 2 tons of roof would be sliding on this galvanized material on nearly a daily basis. Due to this exposure, the angle's galvanized thickness must be spot on: Too much and the zinc may start to flake away, too little and the angle may begin to corrode prematurely. The angles measured out at 3.3 mils and have had no issues.