Corrosion-Resistant Hardware for Beach Houses
Cabinetmakers discuss the risk of salt air, and suggest product choices for a salt-air environment. August 19, 2013
Question
I'm about to start building a kitchen for a condo that is right on the beach. The actual cabinets are about 75' from the shore line. There are 2 sliding doors in the kitchen area that lead to the beach. I normally use Hafele hinges and Blum slides. Do I need to upgrade these to some sort of stainless steel versions of the same thing, or will these handle the salty air?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor C:
Don't worry about it. I do 90% of my work on the SF bay coast. Normal hardware is fine unless you have some seriously picky clients. I am working on a house right now that is also on the coast - the kitchen is around 40' from the water. I wouldn't worry about it.
From the original questioner:
Thanks! Just curious though, what hardware do you use?
From contributor C:
Blum tandems and
Blum hinges usually.
From contributor A:
One small wipe with 3n1 or a light gun oil will go a long way. Many a beach house here!
From the original questioner:
Thanks! Now just in case the client asks, is there anyone who actually makes a rust resistant hinge? I would like to be able to tell the client "yeah, they do, but are ridiculously expensive and not worth it" or "no, they don't.'' I remember a few times we tore out old kitchens before installing the new one and their hinges and slides would be green and brown with corrosion and rust. Sometimes the slides were so eroded they couldn't even open. Most cases these weren't even that close to the beach. Wonder what would cause that?
From the original questioner:
Sugatsune has tons of stainless hardware. Sexy too... for a fee of course.
From contributor J:
It is the cabinet material I would worry about before the hardware. In this day and age most are climate controlled to a minimum even when unoccupied, otherwise everything begins to stink. If these cabinets are inside in a humidified environment, you should not have any problems. At worst case, you look for SS hardware, consider Rockford process hinges.
From the original questioner:
Thanks. I'll probably take my chances with the
Blum tandem slides though. At this point I don't want to experiment with another name because they work so well. I'll try those other options for the concealed hinges though.
From contributor D:
My sales rep was at the shop today and was showing me some new
Salice titanium hinges and was saying they are very corrosion resistant and a better hinge than zinc allow for these cases. The hinges are also a darker color.
From the original questioner:
Talk about timing! Thanks, man! I wonder if your sales rep can forward me some info via email or a link to their electronic brochure or something. I would be very interested in that option. Wonder if they make a version of the
Blum tandems that are more rust resistant, although I can't imagine I would have a problem with those - they look very heavy duty as is.
