Dubai is famous for having the world’s most beautiful skyscrapers and luxurious buildings. Facade appendices, for instance, the Burj Khalifa and the Marina Towers from the glitz skyline, as well as the regions within the given country, the cleanliness is essential in upholding the image and worth of the city. When it comes to Dubai’s extreme climate which has harsh sandstorms, high heat and high humidity, the challenges of maintaining the exteriors of luxurious buildings arise. Appropriate facade cleaning techniques are very important for such buildings in order to uphold the richness and the seamlessness.
Following are the best facade cleaning practices that one would find complete adoption in luxury building construction in Dubai.
Cleaning with Rope Access
Rope access facade cleaning is one of the most popular methods used to clean the facades of Dubai’s luxury skyscrapers. This technique includes workers going down from the apex of the structure using ropes tethered to them while going about the cleaning work on all external surfaces. This is ideal for high rise buildings where mobility is of utmost importance as the workers can move to all inaccessible sections of the façade.
Benefits
Cost-effective: Rope access cleaning is all about macro scaffolding and heavy machines that the right use and management need not take place.
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Flexibility: Rope access can literally be adapted for bathing of glass, concrete, metal and other determinant surfaces in the facade.
Challenges
Connection dependant: wind and extreme heat impacts the safety and efficiency of rope access fluids.
Manned skills are necessary, particularly where cleaning and mid-air operations are involved or at stage the skills of specialized professionals are required.
Cradle and Boom Lift Systems
Cradle systems also referred to as suspended platforms, along with boom lifts, are some of the facility cleaning mechanization options utilized on most high-level building facades. The cradle system comprises of the suspended platform at the roof of the building for the movement of workers vertically on the facade. On the other hand, boom alters are mobile platforms that designed to move to different vertical heights.
Benefits
Heavy duty equipment: with Cradle and boom lifts, more cleaning accessories can be carried and the cleaning performed through power wash and even chemicals for complete sanitation.
Height adaptability: Boom lift features are highly adjustable and may be employed for buildings with different heights whereas cradle systems are more effective for the tallest structures.
Challenges
High Capital Expenditure:The equipment needed in the cradle and boom lift systems tends to be quite expensive to hire or operate.
Space Issues: Boom lifts are known to take up a lot of horizontal space which is not viable in regions where the buildings are closely spaced.
Water-Fed Pole Systems
Water-fed systems are emerging as a safe and reliable method of facade cleaning as well as a cleaning method in mid-rise luxury adorned buildings. This system makes use of long and extendable pol- es which can measure a maximum of 70 feet and more which has a brush and purification water supply. The purified water is further said to be devoid of any impurities or minerals which causes any streaks or spots to form on glass surfaces after an impeccable wash.
Benefits
Green: In this approach, no detergent or chemicals are employed, and has therefore very minimal impact and is therefore eco-friendly.
Speedy and efficient: Economical in time as Far mid rise water fed pole can also cover large distributions within short period.
Non invasive: This system does not require the use of scaffolds or any heavy machines, hence there is no disturbance.
Challenges
Height constraints: Water-fed poles are well-suited for mid-rise buildings; however, imposing these for taller buildings, such as skyscrapers, may be a bit impractical.
Not effective on thick grime: An advantage of this method is that it is mostly used for preventative measures, where maintenance is required, although it will probably not help with heavy dirt.
Pressure Washing
Pressure washing is defined as a technology that uses water under high pressure to spray on the building’s exterior for cleaning purposes. In Dubai’s construction niche, this technique is especially appropriate when it comes to the smoothening out of the concrete as well as stone facades due to sand and talc deposits. Based on the height and accessibility of the building, pressure washing can be carried out using boom lifts, manlifts, or cradles.
Benefits
Works better on stubborn stains: For heavy stains that other cleaning methods may not remove, pressure washing is effective.
Time effective: Ideal for large facades that require a large area to be cleaned, as it covers great areas within short durations.
Restores original look: To a large extent, the job is, in most cases, restoring the original face of the wall cladding in concrete as well as stone.
Challenges
Water usage: Pressure washing encompasses use of water in bulk, which may not suffice in place where water saving is a must.
Not applicable to all materials: High pressure jet SYS is less effective and more damaging to fragile materials such as glass or some metals, if not done carefully.
Chemical Cleaning
In cleaning a particular surface or structure chemical cleaning is done where or surfaces or biological growth like molds, or algae in the building facades are cleaned or removed by use of certain cleaning agents that have been formulated. This technique works best with marble, limestone, glass etc. that may get stained because of the prevailing climate, in this case, Dubai, owing to excessive humidity.
Benefits
Deep cleaning: This is especially true when it comes to the use of chemical solutions since they do more deep cleaning than water based cleaning methods.
Restores material integrity: Some facades may, immediately after cleaning, also require conditions to be restored back to why the original ones appear like new.
Customizable: A number of cleaning solutions can be used on different materials and this conserves the external side of the building.
Challenges
Environmental impact: Failure to do so treats certain chemicals that even those used on the buildings can be rendered useless and thus harmful for the entire surrounding.
Requires expert handling: Chemical cleaners can only be used by professionals considering that such materials require careful usage to prevent any damage from them.
Final Thoughts
The facade cleaning technologies used in luxury buildings in Dubai have been developed in response to the climate of the city. Dependent on the height, design and material of the building, varying access methods are selected from rope access performance to robotic systems. Without this comprehensive maintenance of these facades, it will not be only the beauty of the building that is affected, but its entire physical character will change for the worse, due to damages on its primary structure. Correct application of such a method of cleaning would help lessen the number of potential eyesores in the city scape of Dubai which is in the middle of a desert valley.
