Colorado Real Estate Journal – Return on investment: Metal refinishing edition
The art of metal refinishing is often thought of as maintenance for commercial buildings, but in all reality should be considered an investment strategy. Regardless of the age of a building, there will be portions that will show wear from construction, the elements, and your tenants and visitors. As wear and damage begin to arise, a property manager has two options – replace or refinishing. While replacement might seem like the only available solution, working with an expert metal refinishing company is quite often the most cost-effective and efficient solution. Metal refinishing isn’t just cosmetic, it delivers measurable appearance, financial and operational value.
Metal refinishing is not a trade that can be learned by watching a quick video. Expert refinishers learn and observe how metal reacts in order to know how to properly treat and repair damage. Refinishers receive hands-on training and work with elevators, entrance doors, handrails, windowsills, Alucobond panels, and countless other architectural metals that exist in commercial buildings. Refinishing works with the existing materials and eliminates fabrication, which cuts down on significant downtime.
The return on investment appears immediately in cost savings. For example, as scratches or vandalism occur within an elevator interior, a refinisher can address the issues within an evening, which means tenants are not impacted and the elevator can be up and running as tenants arrive for work the next morning. Replacing the damaged piece of metal could take weeks of lead time just on the material alone – not including labor costs, downtime, and other disruptions, which only increases headaches for the property manager and tenants. In general, refinisher projects are significantly faster, less labor intensive and, overall, more costeffective.
Metal refinishing also positively impacts the operational ROI as well. As the final step to the metal refinishing process, there is a protective, eco-friendly coat applied to the metal surfaces that ensures that most scratches, vandalism, etc., occur in the protective coat as opposed to the metal. The coat also protects exterior metal from rusting, coercion and salt melt. This means that engineering and janitorial staff can spend less time maintaining these items on a regular basis.
Besides fixing the visible damage in a fraction of the time, metal refinishers can also update the appearance of architectural metals to provide your building with a fresh, new look. A stainless steel elevator interior can be elevated with a blackened finish to provide a sleek, moody look. Bronze can be altered in several different ways: a rich, dark brown, sleek black, or even to appear as if it were stainless steel. Metal refinishers can work with architects, general contractors, ownership, and property managers to update the appearance to best meet their needs and desires. These thoughtful, but often overlooked updates can help drive tenants, new and current, back to the building and help increase tenant satisfaction.
The ROI of metal refinishing extends far beyond surface-level improvements. By cutting down on capital expenditures, improving the life of the asset, and helping maintain brand appearances, it is truly a budget necessity as opposed to a wish list item. For property managers and building owners alike, working with metal refinishers creates a visible and measurable difference.