Rope Access Repointing at Carlton Place, Glasgow

• Project Type: Facade Repointing via Rope Access
• Location: Carlton Place, Glasgow city centre
• Client: Commercial building maintenance contractor
• Duration: November 2024 to May 2025, 13 site visits
• Team Deployment: IRATA qualified rope access crew of 4

Overview

Think Access was appointed by a commercial building maintenance contractor to repoint defective areas of pointing across the sandstone and brick facades of a period building on Carlton Place, on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow city centre.

Working entirely on ropes, our Scotland based team cut out and repointed failed joints elevation by elevation across 13 site visits, keeping the building fully occupied and the street below open throughout.

The Challenge

Failed pointing lets water into a facade, and once it takes hold the deterioration accelerates through freeze thaw cycles. The defective areas on this building were spread across every elevation and at every level, from roof line details down to the lower floors.

Scaffolding a full city centre facade for what is essentially localised repair work is rarely proportionate. It would have cost many times the value of the repairs, taken weeks to erect and strike, and blocked the pavement and parking below for the duration. The building needed a way to reach every defective joint without wrapping the whole block in access equipment.

The Solution

Rope access took the repair to the defect. Our technicians rigged from roof level and worked the facades in vertical drops, moving systematically along each elevation.

Across the programme our team delivered:

• Cutting out of failed and defective mortar joints across the sandstone and brick elevations
• Repointing to match the existing joint profile and finish
• Systematic drop by drop coverage of the west, north and south faces, working around parked vehicles and street activity below
• High level inspection of the wider facade as works progressed, with additional defects reported to the client for future planning

Drops were sequenced around the building’s daily life, with exclusion zones set below active work areas and weather windows used to keep mortar work within specification. Because the team carried everything on the ropes, each visit was productive from the first hour with no set up or strike down of access equipment.

Results

The defective areas of pointing were repaired across the full building, closing the routes for water ingress and extending the life of the facade. The client also received a clear picture of the remaining condition of the elevations from technicians who had inspected every drop at arm’s length, giving them a sound basis for planning future maintenance.

The project shows the value of rope access for masonry repairs on occupied city centre buildings, targeted repairs at a fraction of the cost of scaffolding, with no disruption to the building or the street below.

Facade Repairs and Repointing by Rope Access

Think Access delivers repointing, brick and stone repairs and facade maintenance on ropes across Scotland and the UK, alongside our concrete repair and painting services. If your building has failing pointing or facade defects, contact Think Access to discuss a survey.