Facade Coating: Why Is Traditional Maintenance Still the More Advantageous Option in Most Cases?

We bring you the first part of our two-part series of articles that thoroughly examine the various options for choosing a technology for coating your building. The second part will appear on the blog next week!

A facade that has lost its original colour or has even suffered structural damage requires a new coat of paint. At Umyjemto, drawing on our extensive experience with the maintenance of hundreds of facades, we rely on more conservative, time-tested technologies. Recently, however, a whole range of new technological approaches has appeared on the market, promising sometimes almost miraculous longevity for a coated facade. This naturally comes at a much higher price. But is this higher price truly justified? At Umyjemto, we are convinced that in the long term, the price-to-performance ratio of these approaches does not work out better. And it is precisely why these modern methods do not pay off that we will be explaining to the readers of our blog in this article.

The standard — time-tested — facade coating method

Our regular readers know well how our company carries out facade coatings and maintenance. We wrote about it, for example, in our article on hygiene for insulated buildings and relatively recently in our article on solving micro-crack problems on apartment building facades. Let us briefly recap. We coat facades using paints made from high-quality silicone resins — certified coating paints from Switzerland that are a genuine world leader. And that we are not exaggerating is evidenced, for example, by the fact that these coatings are used by heritage conservators for their restoration work. This is such a demanding and specialised area of facade coating that other facade paint manufacturers cannot come close to making a similar claim. The properties of our coating systems include, among others: many years of durability, enhanced resistance to dirt, protection against algae and mould, a self-cleaning effect and high colour stability.

Our company specialises in exterior coatings for residential and commercial buildings, with expertise guaranteed by our many years of experience. The coating work is always preceded by a process in which we find a tailored solution for the client: our experts inspect the condition of the facade on site and carry out a test.

Despite the enhanced resistance of our coatings to algae, mould and other dirt, we recommend that all property owners take regular care of their facade by cleaning it approximately once every three to eight years. This significantly extends the lifespan of the coating, particularly in the case of insulated buildings. It is like any other everyday object — if you take care of it and maintain it, you slow down its wear and it will therefore remain in excellent condition for much longer.

New developments on the market: are various innovations or (self-proclaimed) revolutions worth it?

When looking for an effective method to extend the lifespan of a facade, one often comes across various innovative, revolutionary coatings or facade protection products. Their strong marketing is designed to convince us that they can "revolutionarily" extend the lifespan of facades and that they have an almost miraculous self-cleaning function.

Let us consider one possible example. You have all surely heard of nanotechnology. The expansion of its use today is touching our industry as well — we are talking about so-called nano coatings and protective treatments that use paints containing titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Nano coatings promise to reduce the occurrence of green coating and claim to prevent various microorganisms from multiplying. This is said to be caused by the strong photocatalytic effect of the nanoparticles, which damages cell walls and leads to the subsequent death of microorganisms. This is why a self-cleaning function is claimed for these coatings and a ten-year warranty is offered.

Even if all of this were true, the product itself is far from everything. To form an accurate picture of the advantages and disadvantages of these products, we must take into account a whole range of other key factors. For example, we might ask: what will the facade look like towards the end of this extended lifespan? Although the facade may still be functionally sound after such a period, what about its aesthetic appearance? And furthermore, how are these products actually applied? Does the labour cost (the facade coating service) inflate the product (the facade coating or protection) to such an extent that even, say, a threefold extension of lifespan has no chance of paying off? We could go on asking questions like this for a long time. But to be fair to both sides, we will try to carry out a model comparison using a concrete example next week.

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