No early retirement for Swish Products

Swish Building Products audit of some of its cellular PVC products that were installed over thirty years: none of the materials had cracked or split and all remained completely impervious to water.

Swish Building Products recently completed an audit of some of its cellular PVC products that were installed over thirty years ago.

The project involved the study of thousands of lengths of cladding and roofline materials and was designed to test the currently accepted life expectancy for PVC construction products.

Although gloss levels in surveyed products had "matted off" by around 25 per cent during the thirty-year period, none of the materials had cracked or split and all remained completely impervious to water.

Two sites in Pembrokeshire were reported to be "in remarkably good condition", given that they had been exposed to a variety of conditions including the damp coastal climate during the winter, high levels of UV in the summer months and variable winds throughout the year.

Dave Osborne, Swish Building Products Technical Service Manager, said: "The currently accepted life expectancy for PVC products within the construction industry is 35 years".

"This allows for the incorporation of non-PVC components such as window closure mechanisms".

"However the actual PVC components have the potential to last a lot longer".

"The Pembrokeshire installations provide strong, field-based evidence that PVC products can easily surpass this period, with no need for repainting or other intensive cyclical maintenance".

"The condition of these products, which are essentially made of PVC alone, is such that they could be expected to last a further 30 years before replacement becomes an issue." "Thirty years ago cellular PVC building products were in their infancy and it was only possible to make promises as to their anticipated performance".

"Now, it is possible to prove that they have lived up to expectations and offer better performance and reduced lifetime costs over traditional products".

Swish Building Products supplies a full range of Cellular PVC products to the Public and Private sectors and the home improvement market.

For more information please visit the website.

Back to top