Galvanizing Cost Calculator
Enter your steel weight and the rate on your galvanizer's quote. It adds the zinc your steel picks up in the bath and prices the job the way galvanizers bill it.
Your Steel
Enter the black weight of the steel, the bare steel before galvanizing. One line for the whole job is fine. Example lines, replace with yours
Total black weight 16,300 lb (8.15 tons)
Which steel type should I pick?
- Light: thin members around 1/8" to 3/16", such as light trusses, grating, handrail and light angles. Lots of surface for its weight, so it takes the most zinc.
- Typical mix: a normal fabrication with a mix of sizes and shapes. Pick this if you are unsure.
- Heavy: heavy beams, columns and thick plate. Little surface for its weight, so it takes the least zinc.
Should I tick reactive steel?
Tick it for steel with higher silicon or phosphorus, which includes weathering steel. It can take more than twice the zinc of standard steel.
Not sure? Leave it unticked and ask your steel supplier for the mill test report. To get black weights, you can also use the free Metal Tonnage Calculator.
Your Cost
Estimated galvanizing cost
$6,647
Galvanizing 16,300 lb of steel, billed on galvanized weight of 16,616 lb at $0.40 per lb.
- Galvanizing
- $6,64716,616 lb × $0.400 per lb
- Surface prep
- $0
- Freight
- $01 load out, 1 back
- Galvanizing cost per ton
- $816per ton of black steel, $0.408 per lb
- Black weight
- 16,300 lb8.15 tons
- Zinc added
- +316 lb
- Galvanized weight
- 16,616 lb8.31 tons
How to Calculate Hot-Dip Galvanizing Cost
Galvanizers usually weigh each part after it leaves the zinc bath, so you pay for the zinc as well as the steel. Here is how to calculate hot-dip galvanizing cost by hand, in the same order the calculator follows.
Total the Black Weight
Add up the bare steel weight of every piece marked for galvanizing, from your takeoff or the Metal Tonnage Calculator.
Add the Zinc
Each line gets the American Galvanizers Association (AGA) zinc percentage for its steel type, with a higher figure for reactive steel.
Apply Your Rate
Your rate is converted to dollars per pound and applied to the weight your galvanizer bills on. If that comes in under the plant's minimum charge, the minimum applies.
Add Prep and Freight
Prep is charged on the black weight. Freight counts the trucks out and back, and the return load carries the zinc, so it can need an extra truck.
| Steel type | Surface per ton | Zinc added, standard | Zinc added, reactive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (1/8" to 3/16" members) | 500 sq ft | 2.60% | 6.08% |
| Typical mix of sizes and shapes | 250 sq ft | 1.74% | 3.91% |
| Heavy structural | 100 sq ft | 0.87% | 2.08% |
Source: American Galvanizers Association weight increase guidance. Standard steel assumes coatings of 3 to 5 mils (thousandths of an inch), reactive steel 7 to 12 mils.
The formulaCost = billed weight × your rate (or the minimum charge, if higher) + prep + freight
Billed weight = black weight × (1 + zinc %), unless your galvanizer bills on black weight
For worked examples and what moves the price, read Hot-Dip Galvanizing Cost Per Pound and How to Estimate It.
Frequently Asked Questions
What estimators ask most about pricing galvanized steel.
What Is Black Weight?
Black weight is the weight of the bare steel before it is galvanized, with no zinc on it. It is the number you get from a takeoff or a steel weight table. After galvanizing, the same steel weighs a little more, and that is called the galvanized or finished weight.
How Do Galvanizers Price Hot-Dip Galvanizing?
Most galvanizers weigh each part after it comes out of the zinc bath and charge per pound, per hundredweight (100 lb) or per ton of that galvanized weight. Rates change with zinc prices, plant location and the type of steel, so enter the rate from your own galvanizer's quote.
How Do I Work Out Galvanizing Cost Per Ton?
Divide the total galvanizing cost by the black weight in tons, which is the weight in pounds divided by 2,000. The calculator shows this as galvanizing cost per ton, so you can compare quotes on the same basis. If your quote is already per ton, pick the per ton unit and enter it as written.
How Much Weight Does Galvanizing Add to Steel?
For the steel types in the American Galvanizers Association table on this page, galvanizing adds about 1% to 6% to the black weight, and the association notes it can reach 15% on some steel. Enter your black weight above and the galvanized weight shows line by line, so this page also works as a galvanizing weight calculator.
Why Does the Calculator Add Zinc Weight?
You are usually billed on the galvanized weight, so the zinc the steel picks up in the bath is part of the cost. The calculator adds it using the American Galvanizers Association percentage for each steel type.
What Is Reactive Steel?
Reactive steel has higher silicon or phosphorus, and weathering steel falls in this group. It can pick up more than twice the zinc of standard steel. If you are unsure, leave the box unticked and ask your steel supplier for the mill test report.
How Does Galvanizing Compare to Paint Over the Life of a Job?
This calculator prices the galvanizing itself. To compare galvanizing with paint systems over the full life of a structure, including repainting, use the American Galvanizers Association Life-Cycle Cost Calculator.
Can The Takeoff AI Price Galvanizing for a Whole Steel Package?
Yes. The Takeoff AI counts every member, plate and connection in a structural steel package, reads which pieces are galvanized, and prices them into a bill of materials, with every number traced to the sheet it came from. Estimators using it finish projects in 3 to 4 hours that once took 40 to 50 hours.
Weigh and price every galvanized member in one takeoff.