🖊 Heloïse Rossouw 📸Francois Kuiper
Rust and laundry that just won’t dry – that is a winter rainfall area’s wet season or any other damp humid place in a nutshell, advises Francois Kuipers, the owner of Creative Alloys (www.creativealloys.co.za) in Cape Town.
Combatting rust seems like an easier task. The writer met up with Kuipers, to learn about the benefits of aluminium. Kuipers has been putting his trust in the forces of this metal over the past couple of years.
About Creative Alloys
As an engineer by trade Kuipers started Creative Alloys as a side project in the periods between jobs on the rigs. Starting with pedestrian gates, the scope gradually expanded and his team now manufactures anything from pergolas to pool pump covers and even furniture. The project has taken off significantly. Today, you can see their work decorating homes and in commercial properties in the Helderberg, Cape Town and Boland areas.
“The use of aluminium instead of steel was an obvious choice. The advantages of aluminium lie in it being lightweight, rust resistant, versatile and low on maintenance. It also has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and is easier to handle than steel”, Kuipers explains.
Corrosion resistant
For most consumers, it is the rust resistance and low maintenance aspects of the product that would be attractive. However, aesthetics also play an important role in many cases.
“Aluminium, unlike plain carbon steel, has better corrosion resistance and does not easily rust or further corrode when exposed to the elements. As a bonus, it forms a protective oxide surface layer that prevents further oxidation,” explains Kuipers.
In short, aluminium offers long-lasting corrosion protection. This is something to consider when choosing a building material in South Africa’s coastal areas – especially if you are not too keen on continuous upkeep and maintenance costs.
Bespoke aesthetics
If neat finishes are wanted, and you don’t like the look of an exposed pool pump, then it might be time to consider calling in Kuiper’s team. Creative Alloys gives their products a powder coating finish in your colour of preference and it can be done in either matt or gloss. At the moment, timeless options like grey and neutral shades and tones are trending amongst clients.
Kuipers’ website carries further information and although he can’t promise to be able to sort out damp laundry issues, he says he most certainly offers to build a beautiful cover for, say, a power inverter!
“Hopefully aluminium will solve your corrosion nightmare, but as things stand with loadshedding you need a proper Gantt chart to manage laundry days” he quips.
