Former IAC Ltd. site, Sunderland

When IAC Ltd. vacated its premises in Sunderland, the building needed to be prepared for new tenants. As a former automotive factory, the site had, of course, been exposed to heavy machinery, ongoing operations, and much wear and tear. The building owner knew that repairing damage and a clean, polished finish was necessary before placing the property back on the market. They instructed our team at Cladding Coatings to carry out the work, which we did using well-known Rust-Oleum systems from our trusted paint supplier Rawlins.

Beginning work

Before work began on site, our client enlisted our team to create a digital mock-up. This visualisation, created using a photo of the building, allowed us to apply different colour schemes to the image for the client to envisage the finished facade. From this, they were able to choose the colour that would be best-suited to their property, which we could in turn order from Rawlins to exact specification.

Once we had the go-ahead to begin work, our thoughts turned immediately to safe and secure ways to access all required areas of the building. We hired a scaffold access tower and handrail for edge protection on the apex sections of the roof, and came equipped with roof light protector covers to remove this fragile hazard safely. Finally, we hired Mewps for elevation works, including a large boom for rear elevation.

Assessing challenges

Our team at Cladding Coatings set to work, tackling a number of different challenges. Firstly, when we’d assessed the roof we’d discovered the problem of cut-edge corrosion. We treated this and also sealed bolts to prevent any risk of ongoing damage. We then cleaned the guttering using our new SpaceVac equipment. The SpaceVac is clean, safe and efficient and allowed us to remove the blockages from the gutter system that risked causing standing water damage.

Assessing the condition of the walls, it was apparent that several areas of the cladding required repair. Due to the nature of the facade, we were able to get the panels folded, or made bespoke as required, to get an exact matching profile. The job required specific systems applied with care in order to meet our exceptionally high standards, yet we could trust our long-term paint supplier Rawlins to provide the exact system required. Together, we chose to use Rust-Oleum paint for ultimate facade protection.

On the walls, windows and loading doors, we applied a ten-year coating system, Rust-Oleum Noxyde: a water-based paint with exceptional corrosion protection. This was applied in the client’s preferred non-metallic colour scheme to all vertical wall cladding, including the lid of the parapet capping (totalling approximately 1654m2).

We then primed the windows, entrance door and loading doors and applied the correct paint systems both internally and externally to the windows and entrance door to the front elevation, and also to four loading doors.

Making suggestions

It also became necessary to remove some items from the building on establishing that the gutters are plygene. We’ve therefore been able to use our expertise to suggest some other works to our client that will prevent the risk of exposure to the elements and secure the property’s roof and guttering. This includes cleaning gutters thoroughly, conducting a floor test following the completion of internal repair work, and to spot prime and seal every corroded bolt on the roof and parapet with a water-tight coating. We’ve also suggested carrying out minor repairs to four elevations.

Six members of the Cladding Coatings team worked on the project at various stages, with start to completion taking approximately five weeks over summer 2019. We’re proud to receive our client’s feedback that the finish is amazing and looks brand new – feedback we’ve been delighted to share with Rawlins and Rust-Oleum. As we understand, the building now once again has a let agreed.

Do you have a tenant vacating a building, and need to ensure it is safe, secure and professional for remarket? Ask our team at Cladding Coatings to book your free site survey or call to find out more about our paint supplier Rawlins and our trusted Rust-Oleum systems.