Case Study:Window Gasket Replacements and Mastic Works at London Apartment Building

A large-scale apartment building near Mill Meads in London required multiple maintenance services, including mastic work and window gasket replacement.

Learn how our expert rope access technicians tackled these tasks with multi-method access and why our excellent standards and efficiency secured more work in the future.

The Logistics:  

After receiving the call from the property management team at Island House, we set about delivering our routine pre-site assessment. The first port of call was to carefully evaluate the extent of the work required safely and effectively while providing the client with multiple options.

During our initial pre-site assessment, we discovered the following issues:

• Window gaskets protruding from communal areas
• Restricted access over one side of the building
• Difficult roofing conditions to establish abseiling points

With two sides of the building overlooking a canal, rope access was the only practical and necessary entry. However, we found other parts unrestricted, including an existing scaffold construction and a potential option for an elevated work platform (cherry picker) within the centre.

At Spectrum, we always try to offer our clients optional access methods to suit their ideal budget and convenience.

The Project:

With logistics well established after our pre-site assessment, we began the project with the window gasket replacement. On inspection, the main issue was various gaskets protruding from the communal areas of the apartment block.

As a communal area, there was an extra incentive to replace the gaskets and stop any draughts or water ingress issues that could affect multiple residents. After quickly establishing the gaskets needed replacing, we contacted the fabricator on behalf of the client with a sample of the required shape and size.

While we waited for the fabricator to provide the gaskets, we took the time to assess the restricted aspects of the building in more detail and started our mastic work on an area of curtain walling using the scaffolding erected by another contractor.

We began the necessary mastic work without delay or additional inconvenience. On entry, we discovered the large gaps beneath the windows and panels and used a backing rod to create a bridge between the frame and curtain walling. A backing rod provided the ideal sealing solution for the mastic as it allows for extra movement and shrinking.

The Site:

Positioned on the Three Mills Wall River Weir peninsula, our rope access technicians had a difficult job on their hands. They needed to abseil across two restricted sides facing the water edge in tough conditions and without permanent anchor points.

To overcome the challenges, our abseilers established a safe working system by installing portable anchors. They positioned the main point of anchorage precisely to navigate four tricky corners.    
Despite rope access being necessary across two sides of the building, we could access scaffolding for part of our mastic work on the curtain walling. Between both sides of the building facing the canal, we managed to employ a machine at a convenient and cost-effective solution for that area which didn't require rope access.

Challenges:

From the beginning, we recognised that the location, size, and roofing conditions of the Island House were going to present us with some initial access challenges. Restricted access lay across both sides of the canal bank, demanding a portable safe anchor system on the roof.

Navigating four corners when abseiling is no easy task, but luckily our talented rope access technicians have experience in similar conditions and could deliver their services with minimal delay.

We recognised the gasket replacement in the communal areas as the main priority and had to ensure that all the replacement gaskets were the exact size and fit for each window.

Fortunately, a particular part of the curtain walling was already accessible for the mastic work with scaffolding already erected by another contractor. On entry, we found the gaps were excessive and required a backing rod before the mastic work could be completed.

The backing rod was essential as it enabled us to create a bridge between the frame and curtain walling, ideal for movement and shrinking for a higher-quality sealing finish.

The Result:

Using our experience and industry intuition, we successfully completed the window gasket replacement and mastic work with minimum fuss.

In a short space of time, our team has managed to:

1. Establish a thorough pre-site assessment
2. Analyse and remove various window gaskets
3. Contact the gasket fabricator with a sample and order gaskets on behalf of the client
4. Replace the window gaskets for the communal area
5. Establish a portable anchorage and safe system of work on the roof
6. Finish mastic work for the curtain walling area
7. Quickly provide a cherry picker for the centre as a cost-effective option

Due to our capabilities for multiple access, we save our client time and convenience by being able to fulfil multiple services for one job with various forms of access.

With the job at Island House only 20% complete, there’s still a lot of work to do. However, our client was so satisfied with our work that they extended the project to include more services.

For more information about how our window gasket replacement services and mastic work can serve your property, get in touch. Alternatively, take a look at some of our other case studies for more examples of our work.