Wire Coatings – what are they?

It can be very confusing when selecting the right wire for your fence……apart from the choice of fence mesh, there is also a choice to be made with the coating of the wire.
The coating is designed to prevent or inhibit corrosion, so that the life of the fence wire is extended.

The wire coating is applied in the wire manufacturing process – after the wire is “drawn”  it then has a protective coating applied to the outside of the wire. This is either a zinc or  zinc-aluminum coating.

In the Australian market there are 3 types of coatings available

1.  Standard Galvanised – zinc coating.
2.  Heavily Galvanised – greater zinc coating, providing up to 4x the life of Standard Galvanised wire.
3.  Zinc-Aluminum – zinc-aluminum coating…..which then often has a polymer layer to colourise the wire, so that it won’t look dull.

Many older fences that you see today are a Standard Galvanised fence……the fact that they are still standing, showing minimal signs of rust shows that Standard Galvanised product has its place in the Australian market

The choice of wire gets down to the corrosive conditions that your fence will experience.
In the farming context, the most corrosive conditions above the ground are usually coastal areas, whilst below the ground, areas with very acidic soils can quickly corrode fence posts and wire that touch the ground.