How modern façade paints can help with refurbishment projects

Restoring building façades to their best can be a tough challenge when rain, dirt and environmental pollution all begin to exert their damaging influence the moment the task is complete. Fortunately, there are paint finishes on today’s market which can help fight those influences and keep the building looking its best for far longer than previously. Extensive research into this field has produced innovative new paints which are proven to help maintain a building’s appearance. These really are the paints of the future, so it’s worth taking a closer look at them.

The natural look 

One of these paints borrows inspiration from the natural world, and creates a surface which mimics the shell of the fog-basking beetle that lives in dry, dessert terrains. The shell of the beetle has a unique surface of micro-textures which simultaneously repel water droplets falling onto it, and channel them away quickly and effectively. 

Using a special combination of binding agents and filler material, this advanced paint replicates both the texture and water-handling characteristics of the beetle’s shell. When exposed to rainwater or dew, the building’s façade dries out far more rapidly than with a conventional paint finish, to prevent staining, marking or the growth of algae. 

Being suitable for use on all conventional substrates – and available in a huge range of colours - this paint is ideal for refurbishment projects, and creates a façade finish that can significantly reduce refurbishment and cleaning requirements in the future.

A new leaf

Borrowing techniques from nature has also led to the development of another advanced, highly effective water and dirt-repellent render paint. This has a special formulation which recreates the surface found on the leaf of the Lotus plant. It creates a similar surface texture on the exterior of the building, which encourages any rain falling on it to run off in large droplets. As it does so, it takes loose particles of dirt and debris with it, effectively washing the surface clean every time it rains. Once again, this self-cleaning action makes the surface far less susceptible to staining over time, meaning that maintenance and refurbishment requirements are significantly reduced. This paint is also equally well suited to use on new or existing renders, so it should be given serious consideration when a building façade is due to be refurbished.  

A dark solution

Keen to achieve a particular creative impact with their buildings, architects and building designers can create thermally insulated façade designs covered with a dramatic dark-coloured render. This however, can cause significant problems from a maintenance perspective. 

When dark renders absorb solar heat - sometimes reaching temperatures of up to 80°C – a building’s façade may overheat, causing expansion and dimensional instability in the render. The cracking which occurs in the render creates a maintenance challenge which usually needs to be dealt with immediately, before water ingress begins to cause damage. Fortunately, there is a modern façade paint which can help eliminate this problem. 

This type of matt-finish façade paint uses special NIR (Near Infra-Red) pigments that reflect the solar energy falling on the façade and keep the outer surface of the render cool, thus protecting the render itself and preventing cracking. This effectively removes all the thermal limits which have previously inhibited the use of dark renders on buildings. Even black finishes are now possible, and while this keeps the architect happy, it also reduces future maintenance and refurbishment requirements. 

So next time a building’s façade is due for a refurbishment, it’s well worth paying close attention to the available façade finish options. Making the correct decisions at this stage can have a major impact and help extend future maintenance intervals significantly.