Gauge
Credentials & Certifications
Every Question About Sheet Metal Work,
Answered By the Shop That Does It.
CNC plasma-cut, brake-bent, and hand-welded in our fabrication shop. Ductwork, flashing, custom enclosures — built to spec, delivered on deadline.
28ga
Minimum Code Gauge
10 ft
Brake Capacity
50+
Cancers Screened
24hr
Emergency Turnaround
- CNC Plasma Cutting
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- 10-ft Brake Forming
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- TIG & MIG Welding
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- HVAC Ductwork
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- Custom Enclosures
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- Chimney Caps & Flashing
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- Galvanized · Stainless · Aluminum
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- SMACNA Standards
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- EPA Lead-Safe Certified
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- CNC Plasma Cutting
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- 10-ft Brake Forming
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- TIG & MIG Welding
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- HVAC Ductwork
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- Custom Enclosures
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- Chimney Caps & Flashing
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- Galvanized · Stainless · Aluminum
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- SMACNA Standards
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- EPA Lead-Safe Certified
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How Do I Know If My Ductwork Needs Replacing?
Ducts that are more than 15 years old, running loud, or leaving rooms that never quite reach temperature are telling you something. When sheet metal is handled improperly during original fabrication, the metal becomes susceptible to punctures, which accelerate corrosion and allow conditioned air to leak into wall cavities instead of the rooms you're paying to heat or cool.
The clearest sign: visible rust streaks at seams, a musty smell when the system kicks on, or energy bills that climbed without a change in usage. We cut deteriorated sections out and replace them with new 26-gauge galvanized — sealed, insulated, and re-hung to code.
Per IMC Section 603.4, minimum duct gauge is 28ga for round ducts ≤14″. We default to 26ga for longer runs and commercial applications where rigidity matters.
Ductwork Replacement · HVAC Transitions
Deteriorated vs. New — 26ga Galvanized Spiral Duct
Why Choose Custom Fabricated Metal Over Off-the-Shelf Prefab?
Prefab ductwork is sized for average buildings. Yours probably isn't average. When a mechanical room sits in an L-shaped basement with a 6-foot ceiling and two structural beams in the wrong places, you need metal that was designed for that exact room — not bent to fit it.
Custom-fabricated ducts are cut on our CNC plasma table to tolerances under 0.005″, then formed on a 10-foot press brake. The result is a tight, sealed system that moves the volume your HVAC engineer specified — not whatever the nearest supply house had in stock.
We work from blueprints, sketches, or field measurements. If you have a PDF, we can have cut files ready the same day.
Custom Fabrication · Blueprint-to-Part
Shop Floor — CNC Plasma Table, 10-ft Brake
Gauge Sheet Metal — Chicago, IL
Ready to see what the shop can build for you?
Flat steel to finished product — every gauge, every form, every deadline.
What Does the Fabrication Process Actually Involve?
It starts with a cut file — a DXF drawn from your prints or field measurements. The CNC plasma table burns through galvanized, stainless, or aluminum sheet to tolerances that manual shears can't approach. From there, flat blanks move to the 10-foot press brake where a skilled operator reads the bend sequence the way a musician reads a chart: no hesitation, no second passes.
Welding closes the seams — TIG for stainless and aluminum, MIG for heavier galvanized work. Every weld is inspected before it leaves the shop. You get finished parts that fit the first time.
CNC plasma cutting reduces production time by up to 60% versus manual shear-and-notch workflows, with zero variance between identical parts.
Process · CNC Plasma · Press Brake · Welding
CNC Plasma — 0.005″ Tolerance Cuts
Sheet Metal vs. Flex Duct — What's the Real Difference?
Flex duct is cheap and fast to install. It's also prone to sagging, kinking, and collapsing at connections — each restriction adding resistance that forces your blower to work harder. A kinked flex run can cut airflow by 40% or more. Sheet metal doesn't sag. It doesn't collapse. The smooth interior surface lets air move freely, which is why every high-performance system spec calls for it.
The cost difference narrows quickly when you factor in energy savings and the labor of replacing flex that fails in five years. We've pulled out plenty of both. Sheet metal is almost always what goes back in.
Sheet Metal vs. Flex · Energy Efficiency
Installed Rigid Sheet Metal — Commercial HVAC
Gauge Sheet Metal — Chicago, IL
Your punch-list has a deadline. So do we.
SMACNA-member shop. EPA Lead-Safe certified. Licensed in Illinois. We bring the credentials to the job site.
Does Sheet Metal Ductwork Need Insulation — and Who Handles That?
Yes, if the duct runs through unconditioned space — attics, crawlspaces, garages. Sheet metal is a conductor. Without wrap insulation, summer attic heat soaks into the metal and heats your supply air before it reaches the register. In winter, cold ducts sweat and drip. We wrap with R-6 duct insulation as a standard spec on all attic and crawlspace runs.
We coordinate the insulation scope with your mechanical contractor or handle it in-house. Either way, the wrap goes on before the duct is hung — not as an afterthought.
Insulation · Attic Runs · Energy Code
R-6 Wrap — Attic & Crawlspace Duct Runs
Your health is your most valuable asset.
From a deteriorated HVAC transition to a 40-piece custom enclosure job — we read blueprints, run the plasma table, and deliver parts that fit.
General contractors, facility managers, and homeowners — we work with all three.