Getting To Know Your Materials: Corten Steel
Corten is a beautiful building material that is featured in several of the homes that West Coast General Building Contractors have built and renovated. The signature mark of Corten steel is the protective oxide patina that gives it its rich brown color and prevents it from corrosion. From La Jolla to Rancho Santa Fe it aesthetically lends itself just as easily to modern architecture as it does to Spanish-style homes with its earthy hues that complement stucco and terracotta and lush landscapes as well.
Corten is a beautiful accent material for landscaping.
Featured: Rancho Santa Fe Family Estate, General Contractor: WCGBC, Landscape Architect: GHLA, Photography: Chipper Hatter
Corten is relatively maintenance-free depending on the finishing treatment. Natural surface oxidation takes around six months but there are also surface treatments available that can accelerate the process to as little as two hours for clients who prefer a finished state.
Perhaps surprisingly, Corten can be well-suited for use in wet environments including those where it is fully submerged. However, this does require occasional routine maintenance.
Understanding how Corten works is beneficial because the protective aged patina should not be mistaken for corrosion which can occur when the steel either doesn’t properly develop the protective coating due to a defect or it is continuously exposed to corroding elements without adequate maintenance.
We recently performed Corten maintenance on a long-time client’s San Diego property. Their beautifully designed water feature and seating area are lined with resin-coated Corten that due to being submerged in water (San Diego water is often rife with minerals that can affect metals over time) had developed some corrosion and wear to the Corten and subsequent run-off had also caused some staining of the fountain floor.
With the right tools and expertise, the clean-up process is relatively straightforward but we do recommend working with the appropriate tradespeople or your general contractor. Refinishing with a fresh coat of resin is only the last step in the process and working with the right people means recognizing any present or future areas of concern and being able to perform repairs as well as using the right materials and tools to do the job correctly.
This will keep Corten in great condition both aesthetically and structurally and it will also make maintenance infrequent which is exactly what it should be!
