Did you know that in your daily life, in the 21st century, you encounter more fiberglass materials and surfaces than plastics, woods or metals? When people think of fiberglass, they tend to think of either car bodies or the more roughly-hewn linings to pools, hot tubs and sometimes bath tubs. It’s rigid, thin, and kind of pulpy. Well, that is one form of fiberglass, spray-molded fiberglass, and it’s one of the original applications and forms of it.

But, fiberglass can be made in a number of ways, with a number of different chemical recipes. As a result, fiberglass can mimic quality plastics, metals and woods fairly accurately, and at lower costs. One of the most common uses of this is fiberglass grating, which has a huge variety of applications. Do you own a box fan or window fan? You probably think it’s made of metal and plastic, and while the blade is probably plastic, that rigid, durable grating you thought was top grade plastic is in fact fiberglass of a high caliber.

Fiberglass Grating

Fiberglass grating is durable, affordable and lightweight, but it’s also strong as all heck. For example, fiberglass grating is used in car wash platforms, industrial drainage and even in catwalk grating, where it must withstand high temperatures and quite a bit of abuse. Believe it or not, it takes four times the amount of plastic per square inch to support thermal-molded fiberglass grating’s strength per unit.

In fact, it’s so resistant to weight and corrosion that battery racks are almost always made of this material as well. Battery acid is highly corrosive, even if the batteries are maintained, it’s entirely possible for one to spring a leak. Combined with their massive weight, upward of 50 pounds in many cases, this adds up to a need for a material that doesn’t rust or dissolve easily, and which has the tensile strength to fight this chemical advance under significant pressure. Before fiberglass, reliance was mainly on rubber-coated metal, which is heavy, costly and has a limited durability reliant almost entirely on the flimsy rubber coating’s staying power.

You can use this material for just about anything metal or wood grating can be used for, with the exception of some high-temperature environments (forges, foundries etc). You can easily make strong, winterized stairs, docks, deck supports and even furniture out of fiberglass grating, and it’s guaranteed to outlast plastics and even some metals.

Unlike slippery plastic grating, it’s hard for ice to form on fiberglass, and it can even be made with threading in the grate work, allowing a winter and rain safe snit-slip surface. Even cement cannot do that.

So, when a contractor recommends the use of fiberglass grating for your drains, outdoor stairs, deck construction, or the dock for down by the lake, rest assured he knows what he is talking about, because it’s one of the strongest, most versatile construction materials for its price, and it’s hard to go wrong with it.

While metal, wood and plastic will always have their places in construction and engineering, fiberglass is the responsible, fiscal material to use in many cases you’d not have expected.