There is something satisfying about working on a building that has already been standing for a hundred years or more.
London is full of them.
Elegant Georgian terraces. Stucco and painted façades. Old brick workshops. Warehouses and factories that once served completely different industries but are still being used, adapted and maintained today.
They are very different buildings, but they have something important in common.
They have survived because generation after generation has repaired them, altered them and found new uses for them.
As contractors, we play only a small part in that process.
But it is a part we take seriously.
Intercity Contractors carries out mobile surface preparation, shot blasting and painting work on properties and industrial buildings across London and the wider UK.
Our shot blasting services are often one stage within a much wider refurbishment: removing old coatings, preparing brickwork and helping create the sound surface needed for the next chapter of the building.
Georgian London Is Still a Working Part of the City
It is easy to think of Georgian terraces purely in architectural terms.
Rows of handsome townhouses, often with pale or cream-painted façades, tall windows and proportions that are instantly recognisable.
But these are not museum pieces.
Many remain homes, offices, professional premises and commercial buildings.
They have to continue functioning.
That means they need maintenance.
Paint eventually deteriorates. Render fails. Previous repairs age. New owners inherit work carried out decades earlier. Sometimes several generations of coating need to be understood before anybody can decide what should happen next.
Restoration is therefore not simply about making an old building look attractive again.
It is about helping it remain useful.
Sometimes Our Job Is to Reveal What Is Underneath
One of the interesting parts of property restoration is that you do not always know exactly what you have until later finishes begin to come away.
Beneath paint, render or pebbledash may be:
- Original brickwork
- Historic repairs
- Replacement bricks
- Old fixing points
- Different mortar
- Earlier layers of paint
Where a building is rendered or pebbledashed, the bulk external finish would normally be removed mechanically first. Shot blasting is not generally the primary method used to remove the main render or pebbledash system.
Our role, where appropriate, comes afterwards: preparing the exposed brickwork and removing residual render, old paint or other firmly bonded coatings before the next stage of restoration or repainting.
That means surface preparation has to be approached with some judgement.
The objective is not to attack an old façade until every mark disappears.
It is to remove what needs removing while respecting the substrate that is expected to remain.
Our specialist brickwork shot blasting work is therefore about controlled preparation rather than simply maximum blasting power.
There Is a Custodial Element to Working on Older Buildings
We would never pretend that a surface-preparation contractor is responsible for the conservation of an entire historic building.
That would be overstating our role.
Architects, building owners, conservation specialists, principal contractors and many individual trades may all be involved.
But every trade that touches the building has some responsibility for what it leaves behind.
Our responsibility is to understand the surface we are working on, prepare it appropriately and hand it on in a condition that supports the next stage of the refurbishment.
On an older façade, that mindset matters.
Old Factories Tell a Different Part of the Same Story
London’s industrial buildings tell a very different architectural story from its Georgian terraces.
Old factories, workshops, warehouses and engineering buildings were constructed to work hard.
Many have been modified repeatedly as industries changed.
Some remain industrial.
Others have become offices, studios, commercial premises, residential developments or entirely new types of workspace.
But again, continued use often depends on maintaining what is already there.
Industrial Heritage Does Not Have to Mean a Building Has Stopped Working
An old factory can still be a functioning building.
Steelwork may need recoating.
Brickwork may need old coatings removed.
Timber elements may require preparation.
Walls, structures and working areas may need refurbishment as the building changes use.
Sometimes the best way of preserving a building is simply to keep it economically useful.
That can mean adapting it rather than freezing it in time.
Preparing a Building for Its Next Use
Surface preparation frequently sits between the old building and whatever comes next.
A project might involve removing:
- Decades-old paint
- Failed protective coatings
- Residual material left after render removal
- Previous finishes
The building can then be repaired, repointed, repainted or given another protective system.
Where the project continues into recoating, our industrial painting services can form part of that wider refurbishment programme.
Old Timber Can Be Part of the Story Too
Older industrial and period buildings can also contain substantial timber elements.
Beams and structural timbers may have accumulated paint, dirt or other finishes over many years.
Where appropriate for the substrate, our timber shot blasting services can help prepare these elements as part of a wider restoration.
Again, the principle is the same.
The method has to suit what is being retained.
Restoration Is Often About Restraint
There is a difference between cleaning something and destroying the character that made it worth keeping.
Particularly with older brickwork, more aggressive does not automatically mean better.
Sometimes the right approach is to remove enough.
Enough old coating to create a sound surface.
Enough residual material to reveal the brickwork.
Enough contamination to allow the next coating to perform.
But not unnecessarily remove sound historic material simply because the equipment can.
Test Areas Can Matter on Older Buildings
Where an older façade is visually important, a small test section can be extremely useful.
It allows everyone involved to see:
- How readily the coating comes away
- What condition the surface is in underneath
- How the brickwork responds
- What the likely finished appearance will be
That can be particularly important on Georgian and other period properties where the appearance of the original masonry is part of the reason for carrying out the restoration in the first place.
London Buildings Have Usually Had More Than One Life
This is perhaps the thing we find most interesting about this type of work.
A Georgian house may have been a family home, offices and then a home again.
An old factory may have manufactured something generations ago and now contain a completely different business.
A warehouse may have survived several industries.
Buildings adapt.
Good refurbishment helps them continue doing so.
Playing a Small Part in the Next Chapter
Intercity Contractors has been working since 1997, which sounds like a long time until you stand in front of a Georgian building that has already been there for two centuries.
Our part is comparatively small.
We remove coatings. We prepare surfaces. We prepare brickwork where appropriate. We prepare timber and industrial structures. We repaint and protect surfaces that need another working life.
But there is satisfaction in knowing that this work contributes to something larger.
The aim is not simply to make an old building look newer.
It is to help a good building keep going.
Restoring an older London property or industrial building?
Intercity Contractors provides mobile shot blasting and surface preparation, including specialist brickwork preparation, timber blasting and painting for restoration and refurbishment projects.