The husband-and-wife team at the 316 Fastening Shop supply building solutions to meet the demands of the harshest Australian conditions. By Kerryn Ramsey
The 316 Fastening Shop, located in Mona Vale on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, recently had an unusual request from Tonga. A solar farm was unable to source wiring cables and brackets to hold their solar panels in place.
“We pride ourself on finding solutions to difficult problems,” says Kim Montague, co-owner of the company with husband Paul. “They needed strong, long-lasting wiring to hold the panels in all sorts of weather conditions. We manufactured the wiring to their specifications and the solar farm is now up and running, producing clean energy.”
GRADE 316
The 316 Fastening Shop specialises in providing premium stainless steel fastening products, glass balustrade systems, and thread repair solutions for customers across Australia and now, Tonga. They stock a range of marine hardware and building bracketry including post supports and joist hangers. They also carry a range of decking screws, wire balustrade components, and stainless steel fastenings in both metric and imperial sizes. Tools include drill bits, abrasives, hole saws and hand tools.
“Stainless steel comes in grades,” Kim says. “Marine grade, which is weatherproof and salt resistant, is grade 316. That’s why we called the company The 316 Fastening Shop. Originally, we were mainly dealing with marine businesses but the name stuck as we expanded.”
Wire balustrading is a popular aspect of the business and The 316 Fastening Shop hires the tools and sells the products for a DIYer to undertake installation. They can also supply all the brackets and glass panels for glass pool fencing.
“We sell to a lot of builders and marine businesses on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, but we also send products all over Australia,” Kim says. “Our range of products is diverse and comprehensive so we’re able to assist big companies and DIYers. We can generally supply products the next day. If we don’t have something and need to source it from elsewhere, the customer will have it the day after that.”
FAMILY AFFAIR
The 316 Fastening Shop was started by Paul Montague and his brother Tim in 2006 as a small shop that sold nuts and bolts. When Paul took over in 2008, he expanded into supplying the marine industry. Paul then started bringing in more building products and the business has continued to grow. Kim joined the company in 2016 and the couple’s two sons, aged seven and nine, love ‘helping out’ by sorting nuts and bolts. Paul’s mum Rebecca is the bookkeeper and the final member of the team is Rust, Paul and Kim’s dog, who’s in the shop every day.
“Paul was originally a shipwright building racing yachts while Tim was a machinist with the Australian Defence Industry,” Kim says. “I was a journalist so it was quite a career change for me. I was working on a magazine three days a week and at The 316 Fastening Shop two days a week. While I was on maternity leave, the magazine closed so I pivoted to working full-time here and I’ve never looked back.”
Running a busy company is made easier by being overseen by this husband-and-wife team.
“We know what the other is thinking and can problem-solve together,” Kim says. “We bounce off each other in a very positive way and know each other’s strengths. We also made a simple lifestyle choice. Work stays at work. When we close the doors, nothing comes home with us. We don’t even have computers at home to check emails.”
QUALITY PRODUCTS
This three-person (and dog) operation is committed to finding solutions to any issues their customers have. They stock a huge range of stainless-steel products to cover the majority of situations but will bring in new products if needed. Being so close to the ocean, there’s crossover between the marine and building industries.
“The building codes in Australia say that if you’re within 10 kilometres of the coast, you should use stainless steel for building material such as bracketry,” Kim says. “316 marine grade stainless steel is highly resistant to salt damage. We’ve had customers come to us after using cheaper, inferior products. It’s been a disaster and now they want to use our products to replace everything.”
ONLINE UPDATE
From the Northern Beaches to Australia-wide to Tonga, The 316 Fastening Shop has built a reputation of reliability and high-quality products.
Presently, they are looking at expanding their range even further to complement what they already do and further support the building industry.
“We made a great decision when we joined CSS,” Kim says. “After speaking to a couple of members, we realised it was clearly beneficial to join. It has allowed us to bring in new products and meet new people. We’ve improved our buying power through a network of other members.”
While the expansion of their range of products is continuing, the next goal is to improve their online capabilities.
“We want to make purchasing from us online as easy and simple as possible,” Kim says. “It’s all part of the commitment to our customers to find solutions to all problems.”
Photography: Supplied
