For most of us, our homes are our biggest financial investment. A key contributor to the value of our houses is the Architectural Design of the houses in Marina da Gama. This is governed by the Design Manual (downloadable from our website mdga.co.za). Its primary focus is on maintaining a uniformity of design and function across all buildings in the Marina. The ultimate aim is to maintain a practical, pleasing look and feel that is financially sustainable and takes into account new and improved building products.
Not only is the design of our houses critical to the appearance of our suburb, but so too is the maintenance of our properties. One of the most visible elements of this is the paintwork – dirty walls convey a message of neglect and lack of concern. Unfortunately, there are a significant number of properties that fall into this category.
We appreciate that repainting the whole house is an expensive undertaking. However, there is a campaign that can make a major contribution to smartening up the Marina, without breaking the bank balance. By properly and timeously maintaining dirty parapets, we will speedily improve the overall appearance of the Marina.
This can be undertaken by the home owner or using an experienced contractor. With appreciation to Brendan O’Reilly, we are publishing a guideline on how to go about this yourself and are inviting residents to forward the contact details of contractors they have successfully employed to paint their properties. These will be available on our website.
Together, we can improve the overall appearance of our unique suburb and enhance the value of our properties.
Demetri Qually
Standards Portfolio
Parapet Maintenance – One Members Solution
Parapets require timely maintenance and are neglected because of accessibility and for being “out of sight – out of mind “. Parapets are subjected to high winds carrying sand and salt, temperature changes and receive rain from three sides.
Therefore parapets must be properly cleaned and waterproofed.
Here is what has worked for me.
- Hose down / wash regularly (before and after winter)
- Fungus control – brush/scrape using fungicidal solution that kills the roots and inhibits regrowth of fungi, algae and moss. (Eg. Powerfix Fungi Fix @ R250 per 5lt – can try using sugar soap or bleach or even pool chemicals)
- Inspect dry parapets – powdery and flaky surfaces to be removed and then be treated with bonding liquid. All cracks to be scraped and filled using Crack filler or rock set filler. Small cracks can be painted with a fibre reinforced waterproof pva paint – 2 x coats minimum (Eg. Abe Super Lycryl @ R450 per 5 Lt / Duram Fibre Tech @ R400 per 5lt / Sika Sealoflex Professional @ R600 per 5lt). These waterproofing paints can be used as a top coat or can be covered with a good quality exterior pva paint (Eg. Duram Flexiwall – Matt finish @ R 1100 per 20lt or Plascon Wallseal – sheen finish @ R1300 per 20lt).
- A fungicidal paint additive can be added (Eg. Microban @ R90 per 100ml).
- If your budget allowance is greater than the above amounts then an alkali-resistant sealer can 1st be applied before the top coat.(Prominent paint sealer / Neuclad).
- All waterproofing to receive a maintenance coat every 24 – 36 months.
Brendan O’Reilly
Note: Successful solutions used by other members are invited so they can also be shared
