Blog

You're in business right? You know the importance of ensuring that your assets work as hard for you as possible.

The issue of fire safety is one which is very close to our hearts at Remedial Building Services. The opportunity to do our part, by giving building occupants the best chance of survival, is all the incentive we need really.

If you want to preserve the integrity of your floor for as long as possible, follow these tips.

Happy New Year! Welcome back to 2013, a year we hope is profitable, healthy and successful for you all. In the time over the break a few of us discussed the direction the blog should take this year. What we decided was that we want to have a distinct bias towards providing you with more useful information which has practical use for you.

Things to be aware of when buying a new house or unit

To us, building maintenance and the provision of specialised services is just one aspect of doing a job right. Whether we are providing concrete cancer repair, applying fire sprays, or laying a new industrial floor, in our eyes, environmental responsibility and sustainability measures must be factored into the job specificiation.

The evolution of flooring options

There is a saying along the lines of “A man (or woman’s) home is their castle”. I have no idea where the saying originated, but I think many of us can relate just the same. Home is where we feel safe, where everything is in order and where everything just feels right. Whilst we may enjoy this truth on the inside, sadly outside is not always the same. In some instances it is gardening duty and in others, building repair. Sadly, in many instances, Mother Nature works to conspire against dreams of our house being a castle, causing buildings to suffer from the effects of the environment (too often this is combined with poor quality construction methods).

I was reminded this week of the need to fix structural issues as they become apparent and to not delay maintenance. I was discussing the importance with a potential client who believed that fixing concrete cancer was as simple as removing the drummy concrete and rendering over the exposed area. I explained to them that this was a myopic view and one which would cost them more money in the short and medium term. They didn't want to agree, arguing that no immediate action was necessary to rectify the underlying issues I had explained. When they said this, I was reminded of the old expression which I will paraphrase here to make my point:

I was recently reading an article posted in the Sydney Morning Herald (“No end in sight to waiting game on Bunn Street”) about an apartment complex in Pyrmont Sydney with chronic structural issues and fire safety non-compliance.  Due to these issues, residents had been forced to move out of the building in 2009 until such time the identified issues were rectified. Sadly, the residents are still not back at home in their apartments; instead, they are being housed at a cost of $90,000 a month, in Zetland.
This is just mind boggling. Not only is the cost of housing the residents elsewhere an unnecessary drain on the coffers of the NSW Government, but it is a gross imposition on the residents themselves who have been moved across town from the waterside suburb of Pyrmont to Zetland, a suburb in close proximity to the airport. 

Earlier this year, independent research and testing laboratory Exova Warrington finalized a report on a recent project which Remedial Building Services were proud to be a part of. Through 2011, international company ABI Group contracted Remedial for the purposes of assisting in performing upgrade works to the Iconic, Heritage listed building, the Brisbane Town Hall.

The planning process for building works is a time intensive one. Whether you are an architect, engineer, builder or the client, you know the time put into making sure the smallest details are covered off and the structure will be nothing short of brilliant when it is built.

Earlier this year, Independent certification boday Branz undertook to test the fire rating properties of Nullifire B747 when used in conjunction with Mineral Fibre board.

Fitting out a commercial kitchen is not exactly the most affordable exercise. From the ovens, to the dishwashers, to the knives, fridges and all the other accoutrements that go with a kitchen, the costs can run up very quickly. AS such, when it comes to the flooring surface, we've found that many owners tend to go for the 'lower cost' alternative. Too often this means that tiles or vinyl are laid in the kitchen.

For some time there has been debate over the alternative solutions to concrete and structural repair issues. Some argue that treating the visible signs and monitoring them closely is a solution, whilst others put forward the thought that rapid response will ultimately lower the long term costs to the owner.

The upgrading of building structures, be it for structural rectification purposes, or for a change in use building use, has always been associated with significant financial cost. Whilst the procedure may be inhrently necessary, the cost associated with upgrade has often meant the proposed work is delayed. When the decision to go ahead is made, more often than not, steel and concrete has been the chosen methodology to achieve the outcome. Whilst the advantages of Carbon Fibre have been well documented for many years, it is often overlooked due to a perceived higher cost than the concrete/steel combination.