subject: Facade and Architectural Metal Restoration [print this page] Facade and Architectural Metal Restoration
Asset management is one of today's hottest topics for all professionals involved in the business of buying and holding commercial and residential assets.
Whilst most believe that purchasing a building, house or commercial asset (such as an airport) can never decrease in value, this is far from true. If the asset is not properly maintained the value of the asset will decrease, leaving the company that purchased the asset with a large lump sum cost to repair the poorly maintained asset.
One of the hottest fads for developers over the past twenty-five years is to used metal facades on their development. These metal facades include:
-Anodized Aluminium
-Stainless Steel
-Powdercoated Aluminium
-Painted Aluminium
-Anodized Titanium
These facaces are usually installed as panelling, with silicon sealant used for aesthetics between the panelling (this silicone can be a range of colors, yet most buildings use black silicone).
The biggest problem associated with the use of metal panelling is the ability to keep it clean. Most suppliers of the panelling will recommend that it gets cleaned every two to three years, but due to the inaccesability of the panelling most building owners do not clean their panelling.
If the panelling is not cleaned, a staining will form around the outside of the panel. This stain is commonly known as Panel Edge Staining. Panel edge staining is a build-up of dirt and pollutants that if not cleaned from the surface will result in structural damage, pitting or corrosion of the surface.
Cleaning of panel edge staining is not easily done for two main reasons:
1) The inaccesability of building surfaces. Most surfaces need either a gondola or scissor lift to reach
2) The lack of experts in the field of architectural metal restoration. If the wrong substances are placed in contact with an anodized or powdercoated surface non-repairable damage will occur.
The importance of removing panel edge staining from a building is usually overlooked by building owners and asset management companies, but long-term costs will esculate for those that choose to ignore the problem.
For more information about cleaning architectural metal surfaces Click Here or contact the team from Commercial Restoration Asia.
