Steel column repair, HSS support

Written by admin, 29 January 2022

JW Portable Welding repairs bottoms of steel column, HSS column and/or other heavy support column with relatively minimal structural support during the repair process. Corroded bottoms of support column is a rather normal occurrence in steel columns standing outside in Canada. Our harsh winters eat steel column made from heavy steel for breakfast. Although, sometimes takes about 20 years of these breakfasts, these Canadian winters finally succeed in damaging of the bottom portion of your column even if you provide excellent maintenance program. Sooner or later you will find that bottom of your HSS column or other heavy support column is kept together only by paint.

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How to discover corroded bottom of steel column

The corroded bottom of the column is relatively easy to find. The corroded damage appears slightly differently in beam column and HSS column.

In beam columns, you will notice first the gap between the web and the column’s base. Keep in mind that the beam’s web is the middle portion of the beam which is usually thinner than beam flanges. It is a good practice to check the beam column integrity by hitting the spot on the web as close as possible to the column base. Once you will notice the gap than it is time to plan the repair.

Here is base of the post hold by the paint. Please notice the dark rust in spots at the base of the post. These dark spots are actually holes in the steel.

The HSS column rusts slightly differently and therefore you have to look for different symptoms. Also, based on our experience, most of painted HSS columns mask corrosion very well. The paint covers the heavy corrosion well. In case of HSS painted steel column, you have to look for bulging spots near the column base. Once again, it is a good practice to hit the bulging spot with a chipping hammer to see a massive corrosion that spread under the paint. If your chipping hammer protrudes into the column than it is time to plan the repair.

Corroded steel column’s repair options

Certainly, the replacement of the whole steel column would be the most recommended, but it would be also the most expensive option since you would have to provide sufficient support of the roof structure during such operation. Also you would have to cover the cost of renting scissor lifts or zoom booms used by workers working on heights. The replacement of the whole support column is a valid option for column with heavy corrosion along all its height. However, if you notice that your steel column has corroded only in close proximity to the column’s base than we can offer relatively less expensive solution.

JW Portable Welding & Repairs is capable to replace only the bottom of corroded column. In this way we not only do not need to rent the suitable equipment but also use the good portion of the column to build the supporting structure during the repair. We usually tend to replace from 12 to 16 inches from the bottom of the column. At height between 12 and 16 inches the steel of the column usually does not have any signs of rust. Therefore we replace only what we absolutely need to replace. In this way, we minimize the repair cost while increasing the utilization time of the old column.

Replacement of column’s base is also an option

We can also replace column’s base if it sustained heavy damage by rust. We can remove the damaged by rust base and then install a new base by rotating it slightly for proper anchoring. For effective anchoring, we simply have to rotate the new base plate into new position. In most cases, however, the replacement of column’s bases is not necessary. Also please keep in mind that replacement of column’s base increases the cost of the whole repair.

Please contact us for more information. The supplied material was coming from Steel Centre