The importance of the materials for a self-supporting mezzanine

More than just luxury, the strength and quality of the materials that make up the self-supporting mezzanine can prove to be important elements when it comes to ensuring your return on investment. Whether it’s a warehouse, a factory, or a garage, the return on investment for a self-supporting mezzanine depends on its ability to accommodate various loads, sufficient for each type of handling and each field of activity. Resistant and rustproof, steel is also the most suitable material for industrial warehouses due to its high safety level. To personalize the appearance of the mezzanines, it’s also possible to install offices on them and to adjust the choice of materials in this case to a style of your choice for an attractive look. In particular, glass offices can allow for a great visibility of the whole company and offer increased natural brightness. For a garage or a shop, wood can be an attractive material that blends in well with the rest of the space.

Plan all the elements and the capacity

Unfortunately, it’s not enough simply to install the mezzanine in the place you want; indeed, you’ll have to consider planning a place for each element. Whether it’s air vents, a storage area, a drop zone, access ramps, safety barriers, or doors, nothing should be left to chance so that everything works well on the day of installation. We therefore recommend creating a space organization plan to determine whether your expectations will be met without taking the risk of not having enough capacity. You should then design storage spaces suited to your needs that will let you manage your inventory properly and reduce handling time. In particular, the self-supporting mezzanine can include different shelving for horizontal storage, in units, in boxes, on pallets, or in archiving. In any case, the organization depends on the nature of the items stored as well as their turnover rate.

Take the surface below into account

The self-supporting mezzanine must be installed based on design standards and calculations, load distribution, and – above all – the activities that will go on below. It must in all cases comply with valid legislation concerning operator safety. Its installation must take passage into account, especially since the pillars that hold the structure up can block or slow down the work of the employees. It may also be necessary to leave a free passageway below the mezzanine of at least 2.2 metres to avoid feeling boxed in, especially if workers have to perform a lot of little tasks below. It’s also necessary that the stairs or access ramps that lead to the mezzanine are surrounded by a space large enough that passage isn’t impeded. The guardrails or barriers on this floor must also prevent any falls and protect against the dangers of objects that could fall to the ground floor.

For the installation of a self-supporting mezzanine personalized according to your needs and desires, rely on a company that specializes in the layout of storage and work spaces. Our technicians will help you design your project from beginning to end, for an effect that’s perfectly suited to your line of business.