Case Study:External redecorations

After struggling to gain access to the back of this East London brick property in London, a successful redecorating firm contacted Spectrum to support them in completing this external redecoration project.

The Project

During the project, the team of technicians at Spectrum showed off their problem-solving skills as they overcame a range of logistic challenges when completing work on the property. Through innovative solutions, our team succeeded in cleaning, painting and redecorating this brick building. As this property was located along a canal, all maintenance and cleaning procedures completed, such as DOFF cleaning and brick repairing, had to be executed via rope access. Thanks to the experience and training in industrial abseiling our team of external decorators have completed, this challenging project was a success. 

One of the top decorating firms in the country reached out to Spectrum to support them with a problematic decorating assignment above a canal. Skilled abseil decorators were needed for this project. Additionally, the backside of this property faced a canal, making it impossible to use a cherry picker and scaffolding for access. That is why accessing the back of the building by ropes would be a better solution. Due to our expertise in abseiling and decorating without scaffolding, Spectrum was approached to assist.

The Site

Together with the decorating firm, we redecorated the face of the building along the canal. The project included brick cleaning with our industrial DOFF machine and restoring painted metalwork. Our team exhibited our wide-ranging skillset as the building contained a variety of substrates, including metalwork, woodwork,  and brick. 

The Logistics

Given the short time span allotted to complete this external redecoration project, one weekend, time was of the essence. Fortunately, industrial abseiling is one of the most time-efficient access methods to use for external restoration projects. Utilising portable anchors, our team of trained abseilers worked across the exterior of the building with ease. As our team of abseilers are all IRATA trained, the decorating company we were supporting knew that all safety protocols would be carried out. 

Thanks to our vast experience and training in abseiling, the team succeeded in completing a high-quality redecorating service on this challenging to access building within the short timeline. By working via rope access instead of scaffolding, our team was also able to save the client money on access costs and avoid the disruption caused by scaffolding to both building occupants and its the surrounding community.

External Redecoration Specialists

Years of stains and wear from the elements had left the brick exterior of this property looking worn and tired. Our first objective was to remove the black, rust, and efflorescence stains covering the building's brickwork to commence this external redecoration project. As brick is a relatively delicate substrate, our team utilises our industrial steam cleaning machine, our DOFF machine, instead of high-pressure machines. By emitting steam heated up to 150 degrees Celcius, we are able to remove stains and organic matter seeped deep into the pores of the substrate without leaving any hairline cracks. Removing the matter growing in the pores of the substrate is crucial to ensure organic matter like algae does not grow back following the service. Additionally, unlike pressure washing, steam cleaning does not corrode the mortar in between the bricks.

After cleaning the property's brickwork, the next task of this redecorating project was to restore the building's metal balconies. Before refreshing the paint on the property's metalwork, we first deep-cleaned the metal using our DOFF machine. After cleaning the metalwork, we used a sample of the paint to find an exact colour match that would seamlessly blend into the metalwork. As we train our team of redecorators to abseil instead of using abseilers to complete decoration projects requiring specialist skill sets, we can deliver the highest quality redecoration service at any height! 

Client Orientated Services

By utilising our experience in industrial rope access, our team was not only able to redecorate this hard to access brick property, but the efficiency of working via rope access also allowed us to accomplish this feat in only 48 hours! At Spectrum, a job is only well done, though, when everyone involved in the project is pleased, including the occupants of the buildings. In this project, our team of IRATA-trained abseilers were able to mitigate any annoyances the redecoration project could have created for the property's residents, including excessive noise and blocking their views. 

While the team was approached with unexpected challenges,  we were happy to adapt to provide our client with the high-quality service you can expect from Spectrum! 

Delivering Results

“It was great to see a professional decorating company complement the workmanship of our team and operatives.” 

– Lucian Ivan, MD Spectrum Specialist Support