Galvanized wire mesh - should it have rusted in less than a year?

EagerBeaverton

Purchased a pre-made chicken coop with run last year that came with galvanized wire mesh. It's only been a year and the mesh has almost completely rusted. Got onto the crew we purchased it from and they've said it was our responsibility to coat the galvanized mesh with protective coatings to prevent rust so it's on us and they've washed their hands of it.

I would have expected galvanized mesh to hold up for a good few years without additional coatings? I thought that was the whole point of the galvanization.

We live nowhere near the sea. Although chicken poop is acidic the mesh covering the top of the run (where no poop would get near) is also completely rusted so I was thinking it was shoddy mesh but maybe I'm wrong?

listermint

Sounds like really poor quality mesh. Not all galvanising processes are equal.

CJhaughey

Poor materials, I made one with 1cm weldmesh and that mesh is still functional after 10+years outdoors.
They used the cheapest materials they could to maximise profits. I'd give them one more chance and then do a few poor reviews of their product.

stratowide

Yep sounds like you got some el cheapo mesh there.

Just out of interest what size diameter is the wire.

EagerBeaverton

So as thought, they've used pretty shoddy galvanized wire...

I'm not 100% sure what the gauge of the wire is but it's very thin. I've attached an image of the rust on a top section of the run. For some reason the boards uploader keeps rotating the image so apologies that it appears upside down.

They're saying that the T&C clause below means it's our problem:
10.13 We recommend that any metal parts of our outdoor products are coated with an animal friendly oil and an animal friendly rust preventative regularly to prevent detioration. We do not accept liability for rust for non-outdoor products (such as puppy pens and crates etc.) as these should not be exposed to outside weather.

Personally I thought the galvanized / zinc coating was supposed be to the protective coating.

I'm not making much progress with finding an oil / rust preventative for galvanized mesh - any post asking about something like this just highlights that the galvanization process / zinc coating is the protective coating.

Does such a product exist?

Calahonda52

what does the site say about the product finish, is it ZP or galvo

EagerBeaverton

It states: Strong 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch galvanised wire.

enricoh

That's not galvanized, tell them to replace or it's the small claims court. Screenshot the description first and tell them you did!

Lumen

They might have an argument if you were using it as a shark cage.

CJhaughey

That looks like mild steel wire mesh, in other words not fit for purpose for an outdoors item.

MarkR

Sounds like the galvanized wire wasn't galvinized.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanization

Galvanization or galvanizing (also spelled galvanisation or galvanising)[1] is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting.

...Ghost...

I had some pretty shoddy service a few weeks ago from Galco where I had to repair a lot of mistakes and then paint the steel for protection, but it looks like that mesh is just mild steel. Cowboys selling lemons. Their terms and conditions are not reasonable, so mean diddly squat.

EagerBeaverton

Conscious that from views here it looks like either it is galvanized but just really badly or it isn't even galvanized and is instead more likely mild steel. Am I allowed to post up a link to the actual product as that would show what the mesh looks like when new to get a better sense of what it might actually be?

Calahonda52

searching the web using the 10.13 shows
https://www.pets.ie/c/terms-and-conditions/23
https://www.pets.ie/p/the-katie-chicken-coop-with-run/10080_katie maybe

EagerBeaverton

Just before I get back onto them, would these images help in identifying if the wire was galvanized or is mild steel?

Calahonda52

Painted on a rusted base is my opinion.
I would tell them you will get it professionally tested by the NSAI...
where are you based?

looksee

That's some rubbish! It isn't reasonable to tell you to coat wire mesh. We dug up any amount of old galvanised fencing wire from the garden we moved into and stuff that had been half buried for years was still sound and rust free. Tangled and useless, but no rust.

EagerBeaverton

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Painted on a rusted base is my opinion.
I would tell them you will get it professionally tested by the NSAI...
where are you based?

Based in Meath. Is there a specific route to get something tested by NSAI? Only had a quick look but a bit lost on their website for where to go.

10-10-20

I have to agree with the above. I have a piece of galv mesh which I know I bought in in Woodies in 2008 for a job which I never completed (one of a few - lol), but it got left behind a wall for that duration of 13 years, and it has precisely zero rust on it.
By the way that the rust blew through that coating, expanding it outwards, shows that the rust was expanding under the top "protective" layer, exactly where true galvanized zinc should be doing its job.
It visually indicates that it's a lower-quality steel mesh with a zinc-coloured spray finish. Possibly has no zinc at all in there.

I'd screenshot the technical information off the site as if they are advertising a galvanized finish for "outdoor" equipment and there would be expected contact corrosive feces in a bird-enclosure with an expected usable duration of more than one season. They can't wash their hands of this by pointing to that poorly worded stipulation in the T's & C's.

Calahonda52

Well put Fertilizer person!
Its not fit for purpose