Mezzanine floors are a superb warehouse and storage solution, helping businesses make the most of their limited building footprint by going up, rather than out. Depending on your area’s building codes, a mezzanine may not count as part of a building’s floor space when determining commercial building council rates.
Imagine the possibilities if your business could store 10, 20 or 50% more inventory without moving into a bigger warehouse. How much additional inventory could you hold on site? What new products could you stock?
What is meant by mezzanine floor?
A mezzanine typically refers to an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the floor below, and does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building. The mezzanine floor may or may not be fixed to the building’s structure itself, and may be raised using structural steel columns, hence also known as a Raised Storage Area (RSA).
How do you build a mezzanine floor?
First, we need to determine the use of the floor to work out the required weight loading of the floor. Measured in Kilopascal (kPa) or Kilograms per square metre (kg/sqm), office usage may only need to support 400kg/sqm (or 4kPa), while heavy storage could be up around 1000kg/sqm or 10kPa.
We’ll then start planning what layout is required for the column positions and structural main beam placement will be required. This planning takes place using CAD software to ensure accuracy when installing the floor, and also the mezzanine loading it then calculated using the assistance of our loading calculators and approved by our local engineer. When designing the Mezzanine floor with CAD we ensure the most effective use of the space below the mezzanine
What can a mezzanine floor be made from?
Residential mezzanines might be made from wood, steel and concrete. The mezzanine flooring supplied and installed by Global Industrial is made from high-quality steel either powder coated or hot dipped galvanized (HDG) finishes, with various board types used for the floor and 22mm tongue and groove particle board being the most popular as it is the most cost-effective.
What is the right height for a mezzanine floor?
Industrial mezzanine flooring is usually installed to have a clearance height of 2400mm, 2585mm and 2945mm, though this may vary depending on the intended utility of the mezzanine space above and below.
According to the International Building Code, a mezzanine may have as much as one-third of the floor space of the floor below. However, it is the responsibility of the customer to Consult your local council to determine what applies in your area.
What are the risks of a mezzanine floor?
A mezzanine floor requires hand rail to enclose any open edges to mitigate the fall risk for personnel and any objects stored on the floor. Our handrail consist of upright stanchions, and horizontal hand rail, knee rail and a 100mmH kick rail and we provide signage indicating the acceptable loads. On the staircase hand rail is also installed and the treads have an anti-slip strip to ensure a visual outline of each tread and of cause to prevent anyone slipping while climbing or descending the staircase.
In conclusion
The benefits of a mezzanine storage system are many and varied. Not only can you save space with this cost-effective storage solution, but you also have the flexibility to configure them to your storage area, as well as transport and reassemble them if you move premises. Mezzanines can also be installed quickly and conveniently, so your business can reap the benefits without serious impact to business operations.
