Steel yourself
There is money to be saved by opting for a recyclable site hoarding, writes Phil Chadwick, managing director at Rethync.
There are different types of hoarding, including timber, but steel is a more sustainable choice for construction companies and builders because timber is a single-use product, so it either goes to landfill or is burnt once the project is completed. By contrast, multisite steel hoarding can be reused on the next building site or recycled for further multifunctional uses.
Steel hoarding is robust, with a life expectancy of ten years, resulting in only one manufacturing process to achieve this full lifespan. Being reusable, steel hoarding can be transported from one site to the next, cutting site set up costs so much that most users are seeing cost savings by the time they are on their second site.
Aesthetics
Most steel hoarding is galvanised, meaning that it is powder-coated white on one side that offers a professional finish, while opening the options to be customised if white is not the preferred choice of colour. The panels can be painted to match a company’s corporate colours to individual branding, and posts and fittings can be provided in the same galvanized finish.
Steel hoarding is typically supplied at 2.4m high as standard and is installed using a robust framework to provide a continuous run of site hoarding. The system infill consists of 1m wide metal hoarding panels that are overlapped within the framework, allowing a continuous run of site hoarding of any length without having posts or fittings to the external view.
By contrast, timber boarding needs to be fireproofed to be used on a site and – when it comes to painting over fireproof panels – it is hard to identify which timber panels have been fireproofed. As a result it is unlikely that timber hoarding can be painted in the same corporate colours as steel.
Additional benefits
Achieving that professional image can be easily achieved when you work with a site hoarding supplier that offers a specialised fitting service to ensure that every angle and every turn in the hoarding line appears smooth and continuous. Whilst it might look easy, there’s a fine art to installing site hoarding, especially where different ground conditions are concerned.
There is also the consideration of wind loading calculations, installation, takedown when the site is complete, sorting, and storage between sites, reinstallation, and overall transport logistics – all key benefits of using a recyclable hoarding system.
My own company, Rethync, supplies reusable and recyclable Multisite Steel Hoarding to house builders and developers throughout the UK to create professional, safe, and environmentally friendly construction sites. This hoarding can be readily moved from site to site over its 10-year lifespan, providing significant cost and environmental savings for site managers.
For more details on steel hoardings, go to www.rdr.link/xxx
