Mesh flooring – expanded & welded mesh floor panels

What it is

Mesh flooring is a light-to-medium-duty floor panel made from expanded metal or welded wire mesh held in a steel edge frame. The frame – usually angle, flat bar or a light channel – gives the panel its stiffness at the edges and provides a clean bearing on the supporting beams, while the mesh carries foot traffic and light loads between them. Compared with bar grating, mesh flooring is lighter and usually cheaper for short spans, and its small openings stop most tools and parts from falling through.

Typical uses are storage mezzanines, catwalks and walkways, pallet-rack and shelving walkways, roof access paths, machine guarding floors and enclosures, and storage decks where sprinkler water and light must reach the level below. World Steel fabricates the edge frames and complete panels in its plant and supplies them with the mezzanine or platform steel, so the panel grid matches the beams exactly.

Types and options

Panel sizes are cut to the support grid – commonly about 1–2.5 m long – so each panel lands on beams on all required edges without site cutting. Edge frames can include lift-out handles, cut-outs for columns and penetrations, and kick plates or toe boards along open edges. Expanded and welded mesh sheet stock comes from specialist mills; for screens and infill see expanded metal mesh.

Design and compliance

Mesh flooring is selected for the imposed floor load and the clear span. Typical walkway and maintenance platforms are designed for loads such as 2.5–3.0 kPa plus a concentrated load, while storage floors follow the imposed actions of AS/NZS 1170.1, ASCE 7 Table 4.3-1 (e.g. 125 psf for light storage) or EN 1991-1-1 category E. Because mesh is flexible, deflection and local point loads normally govern; World Steel checks panel spans and frame sizes for the specified loads or works to the engineer's design.

Access platforms and walkways must also meet AS 1657 (clear width at least 600 mm, guardrails and toeboards), OSHA 29 CFR 1910 Subpart D or EN ISO 14122-2. In buildings, the fire engineer may require floors to be open enough for sprinkler water to pass – confirm the open area needed. Edge protection is supplied with the panels – see modular guardrail and mezzanine floors.

Fabrication and finishing at World Steel

Frames are cut and welded on jigs so every panel is square and the same size, then the mesh is welded to the frame at regular intervals around its perimeter and over intermediate stiffeners where the span needs them. Welding follows qualified procedures under World Steel's ISO 3834-2 system. Panels are checked for size, squareness and flatness and marked with their layout reference.

Complete panels are hot-dip galvanised after framing by qualified galvanisers to AS/NZS 4680, ASTM A123 or EN ISO 1461, which seals the frame-to-mesh welds as well. A paint or powder-coat topcoat can follow where a colour is required. Panels are stacked on pallets by area for export shipping.

Installation and specifying

• Lay panels on the support beams with the mesh's long direction spanning as shown on the layout.
• Fix with clips, bolts or tek screws through the frame; leave lift-out panels unfixed only where the design allows.
• Fit toe boards and guardrails along every open edge before the floor is used.
• For a quotation, send the support grid, design loads, mesh preference, finish and required open area.