In addition to the copper countertop we recently fabricated, we made a galvanized countertop for a customer. This countertop serves as a work area for plants and other things. This customer asked us to go to her house, measure the wooden counter, fabricate galvanized steel to cover the wood, and go back to the house to install the metal on the wood.
Usually, when we make countertops for people they bring the wooden counter to us so we can wrap it, but we can also measure and install on site. We can wrap countertops with galvanized steel which is becoming more popular, stainless steel which was popular in the past and is coming back, and copper with is less common but still very beautiful and desireable.
There are some questions about food safety with different types of metals. First of all, there are some misconception about galvanized steel. The correct name of the metal is “galvanized steel” but it is also called names like “tin” and “galvanized”. “Tin” is a more traditional name for the metal. The craft of fabricating things out of the metal would give you the name “tinery” or “tinsmith”. Galvanized steel is steel that is rolled into a sheet then dipped in zinc while it is still hot creating a protective layer which keeps the steel from corroding and rusting. There is also an electro-galvanized metal that is the same except that the zinc is attached by electrically charging the steel and zinc and allowing the zinc to bond by magnetism. In either case, the zinc coating is food safe but will get etched over time so that the steel is microscopically exposed. At this point the metal is no longer food safe and can also rust. All in all, galvanized steel and electro-galvanized steel should not be used as food safe surfaces because you can not see the etching with your bare eye.
There are countertops made out of 99% zinc which, in addition to stainless steel and copper, are food safe.
If you are interested in having a countertop build for any application, please call us at 830-257-4303 or contact us through our website. You can also email the sheet metal foreman directly at david@coolingkerrville.com.
