In an underground car park, wall corners and concrete columns get scraped and chipped in the same places again and again: where cars turn tightly, where a door opens or where the bumper reaches the wall when you park. In halls and warehouses, the same corners are touched by pallet trucks and forklifts, and there the knock is harder. A guard fitted in time takes the contact instead of the concrete or the plaster, and makes the corner visible before you reach it. This guide explains the guards we have, in rubber, PVC, PPC or steel, where each one fits and how to fit it.
Mark the corner or protect it?
The first question decides almost everything. Rubber, PVC and PPC corner guards are for low-speed contact in car parks and garages: they take the rubbing and the scratches, and their reflective arrows show the edge in the headlights. They will not stop a forklift or a car coming in harder. Where forklifts or heavy vehicles run, you need a steel guard, fixed to the floor in front of the corner or the wall, so the vehicle hits the bar, not the wall.
Corner guards for wall and column edges
A corner guard goes vertically on the edge and covers both faces of the corner. We have three models. All come with 6 screws included and can also be glued with silicone adhesive if you do not want to drill.
The rubber corner guard, 80 cm
The ATZ R1280 is black rubber with an L profile, 10 x 10 cm on each side and 80 cm tall, and weighs 2.1 kg. It has 4 yellow honeycomb reflective arrows. It goes on wall corners in garages and underground car parks, on square columns in halls, at ramp exits and on the corner of a building next to a narrow entrance, where cars pass close to the wall.
The PVC and PPC corner guards, 90 cm
If you want to cover more of the corner, take one of the 90 cm corner guards with a rounded profile, which wrap the edge by 13 cm on each side:
- ATZ 90140: black body in PVC and PPC, 4 yellow and white honeycomb reflective arrows, 2.3 kg; for support columns in underground car parks, wall corners at ramps, shared garages and halls, on corners that cars or pallet trucks pass often;
- ATZ 90141: the same shape and size in a single material, black PPC, with 5 white honeycomb reflective arrows, and only 1.5 kg; for concrete columns in underground and multi-storey car parks, ramp and stairwell corners, garages and warehouse corners that pallet trucks pass.
The ATZ 90141 is the right choice when you have many corners to cover, for example every column in an underground car park. Being the lightest, it can be glued with silicone with no holes in the wall. The ATZ 90140 has yellow and white arrows, so the column stands out from far away when you drive into a dark car park.
Rubber, PVC or PPC
When someone looks for a plastic corner guard, they mean the two 90 cm models. The differences, from the sheets:
- height: 80 cm for the ATZ R1280, 90 cm for the ATZ 90140 and ATZ 90141;
- how much of the corner it covers: 10 cm on each side for rubber, 13 cm for PVC and PPC;
- profile: L-shaped for rubber, rounded for PVC and PPC;
- weight: 2.1 kg for rubber, 2.3 kg for the PVC and PPC version, 1.5 kg for the PPC version;
- reflective arrows: 4 yellow, 4 yellow and white, and 5 white respectively.
None of them is made to stop a forklift. For corners hit by forklifts, go straight to the steel guards.
Steel guards for halls, warehouses and racks
The three steel guards are made of tube with a 3 mm wall, electrostatically painted yellow with black bands. They are fixed into concrete through the plates at the foot of the legs, with dowels and screws included. They differ in shape, that is, in what they protect.
The corner guard on 3 legs
The ATO 6353 surrounds the corner on both sides. It has two 60 cm arms, so 60 x 60 cm, is 50 cm tall and stands on 3 legs: one at the apex of the angle and one at the end of each arm. The tube is Ø6 cm, the guard has 5 black bands and weighs 8 kg. It goes at the end of warehouse racks, on the corners of columns and walls in halls, next to machines or electrical panels and, in car parks, on corners that cars cut when turning. The electrostatic paint makes it weather resistant, so it also works outdoors.
The bar on 2 legs
The ATO 6354 protects a single side: a wall, a column, a door or a unit that has to be kept away from cars and forklifts. It is an arch of Ø6 cm steel tube with 3 black bands, on 2 slightly angled legs, each with a 15 x 15 cm plate. It is 60 cm wide, 30 cm deep, 60 cm tall and weighs 8 kg. It belongs in front of meters and electrical panels, charging posts, car park pay machines, service doors in halls or rack corners. Several bars set in a line separate the pedestrian area from the traffic area.
The barrier with 2 frames
The ATO 6357 is for places where a single bar is not enough. It has 2 frames of Ø5 cm steel tube, each on 2 legs, joined by 2 horizontal bars that slide into each other, so the guard has two levels of tube, at the top and in the middle. It is yellow with 6 black bands. It goes in front of long equipment, such as a row of electrical panels or a production line, along pedestrian aisles in halls, in front of access doors and along the side of a loading ramp. If you have a specific length to cover, send us the measurement before ordering and we will tell you how to cover it.
Which steel guard goes where
- a rack, column or wall corner touched from two sides: the ATO 6353;
- a panel, a meter, a service door or a short side: the ATO 6354;
- a long line of equipment or the edge of a pedestrian aisle: the ATO 6357 or several ATO 6354 in a line.
The pedestrian aisle next to the guards can also be marked on the floor with adhesive tape; the types of tape are explained in our guide to marking and warning tapes. If you want to keep cars away from an entrance or a pavement rather than a wall, metal bollards are a better fit: see our guide to metal bollards. And if a cable runs across the hall floor with pallet trucks driving over it, cable protectors are described in our guide to speed bumps.
How to choose: three questions
What passes the corner?
Cars manoeuvring slowly, in a garage or a car park: a corner guard. Pallet trucks: the 90 cm corner guards are also meant for corners that pallet trucks pass. Forklifts or heavy vehicles: a steel guard.
What gets hit: the edge or a unit?
An edge gets a corner guard, or is surrounded by the ATO 6353. A unit, a panel or a door is protected by the ATO 6354 bar or, over a longer stretch, by the ATO 6357 barrier.
Can you drill?
Corner guards can be glued with silicone adhesive, with no holes at all. Steel guards are fixed only with dowels and screws, into a concrete floor.
How to fit them
Corner guards:
- Clean the dust off the spot, so the guard sits flat against the wall.
- Hold the corner guard on the edge, exactly where you want it, and mark the holes.
- Drill the holes and fix the guard with the 6 screws in the pack. You need no other tools.
If you do not want holes, for example on a clad wall or in a rented garage, glue the guard with silicone adhesive on a clean, dry surface.
Steel guards:
- Set the guard in place on the concrete floor and mark the holes through the leg plates.
- Drill the holes, insert the dowels and tighten the screws: 9 for the ATO 6353 (3 legs with 3 holes each), 8 for the ATO 6354 (2 plates with 4 holes each) and 12 for the ATO 6357 (4 legs with 3 holes each).
- For the ATO 6357, fit the frames first, then join the horizontal bars.
Frequently asked questions
Rubber or plastic corner guard?
The rubber ATZ R1280 is 80 cm tall with an L profile. The PVC and PPC ones, the ATZ 90140 and ATZ 90141, are 90 cm tall, have a rounded profile and cover 13 cm on each side. For many columns at once, the ATZ 90141 is the lightest, at 1.5 kg.
How many corner guards do I need for a column?
One for every edge that cars pass. A square column with traffic on all sides has four edges, so four corner guards.
Will a corner guard take forklift knocks?
No. Corner guards mark the corner and take low-speed contact. For corners hit by forklifts, the ATO 6353 steel guard is the right one.
How do I stop the car hitting the garage wall?
A wheel stop on the floor stops the car before the wall. On the edges next to the parking space, fit a corner guard; park the way you usually do first and check where the car comes closest.
Can the steel guards be fitted outdoors?
For the ATO 6353, yes: the electrostatic paint makes it weather resistant. For the other models, ask us first and tell us where they will go.
Can they be seen at night?
Corner guards have reflective arrows, yellow, white or yellow and white, that show the edge in the headlights. The steel guards are yellow with black bands and stand out by their colour.
How we can help
All the corner guards and steel guards are under wall and corner protection. If you have a car park or a hall to equip, tell us how many columns and corners you have, which vehicles pass them and whether you can drill, and we will put the list together for you. We deliver in 24-48 hours.
