Stainless steel is the material of choice when a job has to stay clean, resist corrosion and still look good years later. It is also less forgiving than mild steel to weld — too much heat and it discolours, warps, or loses the very corrosion resistance it was chosen for.
We weld stainless at our Cape Town workshop and on site, for balustrades, handrails, kitchen and food-industry equipment, pipework and architectural work.
Balustrades and handrails. Staircases, balconies and walkways, in brushed or polished finishes. Stainless holds a finish better than any other structural metal, which is why it dominates this work.
Kitchens and food environments. Counters, tables, splashbacks, trolleys and frames for commercial kitchens, where hygiene rules out mild steel.
Pipework and tanks. Welding and repairs where the contents demand a non-reactive, cleanable surface.
Coastal and architectural work. Fittings, brackets and trim on properties near the sea, where mild steel would need constant maintenance.
Most stainless failures are finish failures, not strength failures. Heat tint – the straw or blue discolouration along a weld – is the visible sign that the chromium oxide layer has been damaged, and that is exactly the layer doing the corrosion protection. Controlling heat input and shielding the weld properly prevents it.
Cross-contamination is the other common cause. If stainless is ground or brushed with tooling that has been used on mild steel, carbon steel particles embed in the surface and rust later, making a perfectly good stainless job look defective. We keep separate consumables for stainless work.
We use TIG for most stainless because it gives the cleanest, most controlled result. Our guide to TIG vs arc welding explains where each process fits.
Mild steel is cheaper, stronger for the money and easier to fabricate, but it needs galvanising, paint or powder coating to survive outdoors – and that coating is what eventually fails. Stainless costs more up front and needs no coating at all.
For a Cape Town property near the sea, the maintenance difference is significant. Our comparison of mild steel and stainless steel covers where each earns its cost, and maintaining metal in a coastal climate covers what actually happens over time.
New fabrication belongs in the workshop, where the piece can be held square and the weld properly shielded. Wind is the enemy of clean TIG work, and Cape Town has plenty of it.
Repairs to installed items – a loose balustrade stanchion, a cracked bracket – are done in place. See on-site welding for what we handle without removal, and staircases and balustrades for that work specifically.
On grade selection near the sea, see 304 vs 316 stainless steel.
