Making My Backroom More Functional

Three Ways You Can Repurpose A Small Sheet Of Cold Rolled Steel For Home Use

by Phil Lawrence

Cold rolled steel is durable and long lasting. It has the ability to be manipulated into just about any sort of product imaginable. If you were to come into possession of a small sheet (6'x6' up to 10'x10') of cold rolled steel that was mildly blemished or deemed unusable by industrial standards, you could repurpose it for home use. Here are a few ideas that are either decorative or functional.

Emboss It or Punch It

Using an embossing machine that embosses and reshapes steel, you could transform the sheet you have into a full wall or ceiling decoration. Cold rolled steel is often used to make "tin" tray ceilings or embossed back splashes because it can be enhanced with different colored acids and burnishing. You could take your small sheet of steel to a factory that has an embosser and hire them to emboss it for you, or buy or build your own steel press (which is, obviously, much more expensive). There are also punches that create various-sized circular holes in the steel, as well as punch machines that will cut out all kinds of shapes.

"Box" It

If you know a welder or have welding skills all your own, you could transform your sheet of steel into a box. A blowtorch may have little effect on the cold steel sheet, but welding torches can cut through it like a knife through butter. Then you can weld your box pieces that you cut from the sheet into a nice stable box into which you could store almost anything. Because of its anti-corrosive properties, many people like to use the steel box for collecting rainwater, ice-fishing shanties and even fish hatchery tanks.

Soundproof and Insulate Your Garage or Shed

When howling winters descend upon you, or when your garage band is just too loud for most of the neighbors, you can repurpose your cast-off sheet of rolled steel to insulate and soundproof your garage or shed. The addition of the steel prevents drafts from entering the building, and you can apply it to the outside or the inside walls (although for aesthetic reasons, you should probably apply it to the inside). The steel can also help prevent your band's noise levels from bothering the neighbors, as the sounds are contained within the steel walls you have created. There will still be some reverberation of sound waves as the music bounces off the panels, but the actual sounds and lyrics will be dulled.

For more ideas, talk to a professional like A & C Metals - Sawing.

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