Installing a Large Stainless Steel Sculpture

Installation Starts at the Enquiry

The expensive mistakes on large pieces are made months before the crate arrives: a foundation poured to the wrong bolt pattern, a crane booked for the wrong weight, or a fixing that has to be drilled into a finished mirror surface. All three are avoidable if the fixing conversation happens at the quotation stage.

See Large Stainless Steel Sculpture - Moon Gate

Shop Drawings and the Groundworks Package

For large commissions we issue detailed shop drawings covering the base plate, the bolt pattern, the weight and the lift points. Those drawings need to reach your civil engineer before the groundworks package closes. Once concrete is poured, changing a bolt pattern costs far more than issuing a drawing early.

Fixings Are Welded Before Polishing

Pedestals, spigots, flanges and base plates are welded on before the final polish, and threaded holes are tapped at the same stage. This is why we ask for the base detail with the order. Site drilling of a finished surface leaves scratching around the fixing that cannot be polished out in place.

Lifting and Handling

Hollow construction keeps large pieces far lighter than cast equivalents, which is often the difference between a two person lift with a padded cradle and a booked crane day. Plan a two point lift and a padded cradle for anything above about 1500 mm, and keep the protective film in place while the piece is moved.

Uncrating and Final Cleaning

Take the piece out of the case with the film still on. Fix it down, finish the surrounding groundworks, clean the site, and only then peel the film. Removing it early is the most common way a perfectly good surface picks up damage during the rest of the site programme.

Ongoing Maintenance

Clean water and a soft cloth. No wire brushes, no abrasive pads, no chloride based cleaners. A correctly specified stainless piece has no repainting cycle, which is the argument that usually wins over a facilities team looking at a twenty year maintenance budget.