Hey guys, wanted to bounce a couple ideas off you all.  We had concrete poured in our new shop last week. We now need to get a drain cover made.  I am tossing around a couple ideas.  I could have something made by a welding shop($$$), order something pre-made from McNelius Steel($$), or make my own($ and time).  Attached it a quick drawing of the dimensions of the trench along with my 3 ideas.  I have not priced anything yet.  As the attached drawing shows I could;

1.  Buy open grate steel that fits my trench?  (Not sure how thick the bars need to be for a proper load rating?)

2.  Buy open grate steel and then cover it with a flat steel plate?  (Not sure of grate rating and flat thickness to go with?)

3.  Buy a bunch of flat stock, cut to length, half notch with my chop saw, and weld together myself?  (Same load rating questions as #1 above?)

Do any of you have a reccomendation on a pre-made grate?  What bar thickness do I need to be looking at?

As always, thanks in advance for helpful responses!

Shop Drain Grate.docx (32KB - 521 downloads)