Case Study:Our Render Cleaning Services Saved Our Client Over £20K

After five years, modern rendered walls will require cleaning and maintenance services to sustain the substrate condition alongside fulfilling their visual potential.

Discover how our rope access technicians cleaned five floors of rendered walls and provided roof and window repairs by rope at a residential property in London, saving our client thousands of pounds on access costs.

The Logistics

We were hired due to a positive recommendation from a previous client. With this in mind, we were keen to make an excellent first impression with this new client, which could establish another healthy relationship and give merit to our reliable and high-quality reputation within the industry.

After accepting the job, the first order of business was to assess the property during a pre-site visit before we could devise the correct strategy to address the rendered facades requirements.

As contractors, we see the surveyor's report before winning the tender on a project. But regardless of the complexity, we always do our own inspection.

For example, when we abseil, we can take a closer look at the walls than we can at floor level, so we usually spot further damage and can see the severity of things like wood rot.

During the pre-site assessment, we noticed the following issues:

-         The rendered walls of the property were stained and dirty.

-         Rotten wood on window frames presented a safety hazard and required fixing and repainting.  

-         Damage on the roof required repair.

-         Stone coping required cleaning.

Before our pre-site visit, the client thought the building needed a repaint. However, on further inspection, we informed the client that the modern render of the building required cleaning, with areas of the walls alongside the roof and window frames needing repairs and repainting services.

Modern render can often be cleaned to refresh a property instead of repainting. Please read our blog on why we wouldn’t recommend painting modern silicone render for more information.

The Project

With our pre-site assessment informing our strategy for the rest of the project, we began working from the ground level, cleaning the rendered walls with our patented pole system. The walls were stained and dirty after years of no maintenance.

For this reason and the extent of cleaning required, we introduced our PAST process and patented pole equipment to the project. The acronym of our PAST cleaning process is defined by the following:

-         Preparation

-         Access

-         Steam

-         Treatment

As with previous projects, our signature PAST process has restored various property exteriors to optimum condition. After deciding on this cleaning approach, we established a safe system of work on the roof with rope access before utilising our patented pole system and our IRATA-trained rope operatives to reach every inch of the substrate.

As our technicians abseiled the five floors of the property at closer proximity, they could identify additional defects on the walls, window frames, and roof.

Rope access provided the ideal method to clean the rendered wall with our PAST process. After the render was clean, we fixed the broken render and ensured we colour-matched our new render repairs with the original surface colour of the walls.

The colour matching created a cohesive finish across the exterior of the building. We also noticed that the communal bin store was causing damage to the render, with bins continually bashing the walls and causing damage. So, as a goodwill gesture, we applied some protective cladding to protect the wall in the future.

Finally, our technicians provided the necessary repairs to the window timber frames before repainting them. A two-part resin filler proved the ideal treatment for the rotten wood before priming and painting two coats of timber-specific paint to complete the refurbishment.

The Site

Old Palace Court is a large five-story building in Central London. The site was situated in a busy residential area, with multiple residents inside the building alongside neighbouring properties and public pavements to consider.

Luckily, rope access provided complete access to the property with minimal disturbance to the public outside and residents inside.

Challenges

The back of the building (not facing the road) represented the most challenging area of the property to clean, repair and repaint. Due to the sloped roof, the rigging towards the back was less straightforward than usual to establish. However, our rope access technicians persevered by setting up a few deviations and rope transfers.  

Traditional access methods, like scaffolding, would have significantly set our client back on costs, inconvenience and time. Scaffolding can also present other problems, such as relying on the whole roof to take the weight. And with the roof already damaged on this project, the structural integrity of the building may have suffered if scaffolding was erected.

But with our rope access capabilities, we could complete repair works on the windows and roof at height. This solution saved the clients significant costs and time on this project.

Once our system of work was safely in place, we could begin the render cleaning. Using our PAST cleaning process, experienced professionals, and our patented pole equipment helped us clean the render effectively without causing damage.

Restoring the original render from this proximity enabled our technicians to identify the correct colour match for the render repairs, which they applied after the cleaning was finished.

The Result

Our PAST cleaning process and patented equipment proved vital alongside our rope access capabilities in this render cleaning project.

Here is a quick summary of our render cleaning and repair process from start to finish:

• A thorough pre-site assessment enabled us to see the extent of staining on the render and brick.
• Gaining access to the roof allowed us to establish safe anchorage for rope access.
• Our signature patented pole equipment and PAST process helped us to complete the render cleaning.
• Repairs to the walls, window frames and roof followed, before a final clean, including the windows.

In line with the values and standards here at Spectrum, the finish restored the property to “like new” standards, with wooden features restored and repainted alongside a fixed, clean, and watertight roof.

All in all, the project took eight weeks to complete, and we managed to save the client over £20,000, which would have been otherwise spent on scaffolding costs.

Get in touch today for more information on how our render cleaning and repair services can restore your property.