Dimensional review / Written scope

Custom steel work starts with a checked brief.

For custom steel work near Austin, Zunbik reviews the proposed piece before agreeing what to make. A commercial shelving enquiry or a small frame starts with the same distinction: what you have measured, and what still needs checking.

Price basis: the written quote follows the reviewed dimensions, steel specification, finish and fabrication work. Access and fixing conditions also matter. Sending an enquiry does not place an order or reserve a production date.

Send the dimensions

Give the piece a job.

Say what the steel needs to do before choosing a section size. A place to store boxes is not the same brief as a surface for working on equipment. Tell us what occupies the space now, what is getting in the way and what needs to remain accessible after the piece is fitted.

A sketch is useful. It does not need a drawing package. Mark the overall envelope, write the units beside the dimensions and distinguish an opening size from the size you want the finished piece to be. If a measurement is approximate, label it that way rather than making it look settled.

Separate dimensions from assumptions.

We review the dimensions against the use and the fixing conditions described. A width taken at the front of an alcove does not establish its width at the back. A clear floor footprint does not establish that the piece can pass through the door. Those are different measurements, and the scope needs to keep them separate.

This is where unanswered questions come back to you. We may need a clearer view of a junction or a measurement from a named reference point. Do not remove a loaded fixture or expose a fixing to answer a question unless it is safe to do so. An unknown condition stays unknown until it can be checked properly.

Put the proposed work in writing.

The written scope describes the piece being discussed and the basis for a quote. It should make the material and finish legible, identify the dimensions being used and say where the work stops. Supply of a steel frame is not automatically supply of the surface it supports. Fabrication is not automatically installation.

Check the scope against the latest sketch, not an earlier message. If the depth changes or an extra shelf is added, the work changes too. We review the affected details before treating the revised arrangement as agreed. The website contains no binding price for a piece whose specification is still open.

Agree what happens next, and when.

The review may lead to an agreed fabrication scope. It may instead reveal a dimension that needs checking on site. It is not always time for a cut list. If a fixing point remains unresolved, ordering steel does not resolve it.

Tell us about a required opening date or a room that will be unavailable during other work. We discuss timing against the actual scope rather than promising a fixed turnaround from the first message. Do not arrange dependent work around an assumed completion date; wait for the relevant timing and responsibilities to be agreed.

The drawing becomes the reference

One clear revision beats a trail of corrections.

For a made-to-measure steel frame, keep overall dimensions separate from clear internal dimensions. Say whether a width includes the steel itself. For a fixture that fits under an existing surface, show the underside height rather than a height measured to the top.

When you revise a sketch, name the revision and identify the changed dimension. A short note such as “depth changed; width unchanged” is more useful than another unlabelled photograph. The aim is a record that both sides can read without guessing which message supersedes which.

Do not round away a clearance because the number looks untidy. An installation gap and a fabrication tolerance serve different purposes; neither should be silently absorbed into the other.

Clamps and cut steel lengths on a fabrication bench
Cut lengths need an agreed reference, not a remembered measurement.Review / Fabrication
Workshop load note beside a tape measure and steel offcut
Record the intended load and how it is distributed.Planning / Not certification

Steel load sizing

A load figure needs its context.

The planning calculator on the home page divides intended load by plan area. For an illustrative span of 1,000 mm and depth of 500 mm, the area is 0.5 m². An intended load of 50 kg gives 100 kg/m². That is arithmetic, not a safe working load for a steel shelf.

Material thickness alone does not establish capacity. Support spacing and the steel section change the behaviour; the connection to the building can be the limiting part. A single heavy object is also different from the same total weight spread across a surface.

Include the raw inputs with a steel load sizing enquiry. The result does not certify a design, approve a fixing or replace inspection.

Use the planning calculator

Choose the relevant scope

The first questions depend on the piece.

You do not need to choose the final construction before contacting us. The service pages explain which conditions shape each brief, so your message can focus on the information that actually affects the work.

New storage or a new fixture

For a commercial shelving enquiry, describe the objects being stored and the usable space around them. Workshop shelving design starts with access as well as storage area. A retail rail or a narrow bench has a different daily use, so explain the movement around the fixture rather than sending only its footprint.

Measured steel shelvingWorkspace and retail fixtures

A support or an existing piece

For an open frame, identify the surface or display it will support and whether that part already exists. For an alteration, show the whole existing piece as well as the affected junction. A repair scope needs to account for its present condition, not just the shape you want afterwards.

Small steel framesRepair and alteration

A practical boundary

A photo can start a discussion. It cannot approve the fixing.

A short brief is fine. Missing evidence is not a reason to invent an answer. Zunbik will not promise a load from a photograph alone or treat a concealed fixing point as sound because the surface looks clean.

This process suits compact fabrication that can be defined and reviewed. It is not a substitute for structural engineering certification or an urgent safety inspection. If an existing piece is unstable, stop using it and seek an appropriate on-site assessment before discussing an alteration.

From an idea to a reviewable brief

Send what you know. Mark what you do not.

Use the contact form for the proposed work and a reply route. Keep private documents out of the brief. You can also read the workshop's working principles or compare the service scopes before sending.

Send the dimensions