A: IT DEPENDS UPON THE PRODUCT THAT YOU ORDER AND YOUR APPLICATION, BUT TYPICAL LEAD TIME SHOULD BE UPWARDS OF MAYBE TWO OR THREE DAYS OR SOMETIMES, IT COULD BE TWO OR THREE WEEKS. IT DEPENDS ON THE APPLICATION.
FRP grating from DEFI is a widely used alternative to traditional materials in applications across the spectrum in every different industry. FRP gratings are manufactured with varying lead times with fiberglass and resin. Depending on the type of product you are ordering and the application for which it will be used the manufacturing process can take up to almost a month or as short as within a few days.
When our FRP is manufactured it goes through rigorous quality control checks to ensure it performs within ISO standards for the environment and application for which it will be used. We don’t compromise the quality of our product in order to speed up the manufacturing and quality control process.
We want every customer large or small, to have the peace of mind that the FRP grating they receive from DEFI is the best in the industry for a reason—we do not compromise.
Our FRP grating is often used in some of the harshest conditions where materials like metal and wood just can’t compete with the versatility and durability of DEFI FRP grating despite many people’s misunderstandings of FRP’s capabilities.
TWO COMMON FRP GRATING MISCONCEPTIONS
One of the reasons your company may have not invested in FRP grating yet might be due to the amount of misinformation about FRP in terms of practicality and economic feasibility of the investment. Don’t let these common misconceptions prevent your company from the many benefits of FRP grating from DEFI.
It’s too expensive
In the recent past, the initial material cost of FRP has been one of the main reasons companies have chosen more traditional materials such as steel and aluminum since the material cost of metal is a bit less. However, if you only look at the initial material cost of FRP compared to steel or aluminum grating, you are not getting the whole picture, and that logic would be in error.
While it is true, that FRP does have a higher material cost than steel and aluminum, FRP has very significant savings in other cost areas that end up making FRP a much more economical choice if you consider the overall cost.
FRP products cost very little to install. With steel, for example, it requires not only heavy machinery and possible concrete reinforcement at the installation site but the freight cost alone for the much heavier steel, levels the playing field in terms of cost versus FRP. DEFI FRP grating weighs only a fraction of what steel does per sq. ft. so there is no need for heavy-duty machinery, concrete reinforcement and the freight cost is much more economical.
Not only that, but FRP grating from DEFI can also be fabricated right on your plant floor, all you need is a circular saw to cut FRP grating to size instead of having to have the exact dimension pieces custom made. On-site fabrication also gives the flexibility of making changes in the design during installation should you notice something that needs adjusting. You can’t just change things on the fly like that with steel or aluminum—it’s going to cost a lot more to make modifications and require longer lead time for the revised pieces.
The savings over traditional materials doesn’t stop at installation, rather the savings actually increase over the life of our FRP grating products.
Traditional materials such as wood and metal require a lot of maintenance to keep in top shape—and even then, they eventually need repair or replacement due to wear and tear far sooner than FRP grating will begin to show wear.
For example, take metal; it is highly susceptible to rust and corrosion especially in environments with there are chemicals such as acids, or high humidity or condensation. In order to inhibit rust on metal surfaces, yet more money must be invested to paint the surfaces with a special paint that creates a barrier between the metal and moisture.
The problem is, eventually this paint also wears off and begins chipping, so you must constantly touch up the chipped areas and eventually you will have to sand the entire structure down to the metal and repaint it all over again.
With FRP grating, you don’t have that problem, acids don’t corrode fiberglass, there’s not a chemical that can, FRP cannot rust, and it needs no special coating to be waterproof, or rustproof. That nature of the materials FRP is made from makes it the perfect material for harsh environments and can save you thousands over the course of ownership. Not to mention with recent steel tariffs, the price of steel is becoming even more and more expensive and has inflated at a much higher rate than FRP materials.
It’s not strong enough or as durable as metal
This misconception is often due to people thinking FRP grating is just plain plastic. That couldn’t be further from the truth, the process of how FRP grating is made is quite fascinating.
FRP is a composite made up of resin and fiberglass strands that when combined with the resin makes up the core material for our FRP grating products. This combination creates a reinforcement that is pound for pound as strong as steel despite being only 1/3 the weight of steel among other advantages.
The resin variations are what give the FRP grating the specified environmental and chemical resistant traits that are dictated by the application and it also is the binder for the glass fibers that create the structural base.
FRP grating from DEFI is just as strong as metal grating materials and also in certain situations is stronger. For example, because steel is so rigid it does not have a very strong direct impact resistance. If struck directly with a hard or heavy object, steel is not hard to dent.
FRP grating on the other hand while just as strong is less rigid which gives it the ability to absorb a direct impact without being dented in the process.
So, in reality, FRP is just as strong and is actually more durable than metal on any given day.
THE TOP 5 ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES OF FRP GRATING
If you aren’t convinced yet with the installation and fabrication savings of FRP grating from DEFI over traditional materials like wood and metal, just take a look at a small sampling of the multitudes of other advantages it has over its metal and wood counterparts:
- Resilience – FRP grating products from DEFI are coated with a hard gel that cures to the surface and can be customized into many colors and varying hardness levels to suit your specifications. This gel coat can also be formulated to offer additional benefits such as boosted resistance to corrosion, texture for traction on walking surfaces, and industry-specific guidelines such as reflective visibility.
- Stiffness – FRP grating from DEFI has an extreme stiffness that both metal and wood cannot replicate. FRP grating won’t deform when pushed to maximum workload like metal or wood will when impacted.
- Flexural Strength – FRP products while being greater in stiffness than wood and metal have a greater flex threshold when you are considering their weight to strength ratio. Fiberglass is stronger in that regard to wood, aluminum, and even steel.
- Heat Resistant – FRP grating has an outstanding performance record in extreme heat due to its insulative characteristics. While metal conducts heat which can cause injury in the workplace, fiberglass stays cool to the touch no matter the environment.
- Non-Conductive – Since FRP is non-conductive there is no electrical shock hazard and it needs no grounding. It is in fact, perfect for workplaces which high-voltage is a danger such as power plants.
Ready To Save Your Company Money With FRP Grating From DEFI?
Contact us today to figure out how we can cut out spending on plant maintenance and operational costs by using DEFI FRP grating products. We have consultants ready to help outfit your site with FRP products tailored to your unique and specific needs, at a fraction of the ownership cost of wood and metal.
