refurbishment

Applying a smoothing compound to a subfloor is recommended to provide suitably smooth base for the receipt of new floor coverings. Which will help to ensure a visually attractive finish. Where refurbishments are taking place and adhesive residues are left behind following the removal of old floor coverings, smoothing compounds are available that can be applied directly over these, eliminating the usual need to spend valuable time mechanically removing them.

The latest Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) survey highlights significant progress in tackling unsafe cladding across the social housing sector, yet more than a quarter of buildings identified with life-critical external wall defects still have remediation plans that are incomplete or unclear. The challenge now is not identifying the problem but moving projects from uncertainty to delivery.

Eight years after Grenfell, the direction of travel on social housing remediation is clear. Across the sector, landlords, consultants, contractors and manufacturers have worked together to make substantial progress. The latest figures from the RSH published on 24 September 2026, demonstrate that momentum.

How OCL Reclad and its trusted supplier – Valcan, combined specialist delivery and product expertise to improve facade fire performance while preserving the character of an occupied residential building, in the heart of London.

For housing providers, a recladding project brings responsibilities that reach well beyond the external walls. Residents need to continue living in their homes, existing defects may only become apparent once work starts, and replacement materials must suit the building as well as the brief. At Inglewood Mews, these challenges made collaboration between OCL Reclad, Valcan and the wider project team central to delivery and project success.

As part of Stroud District Council’s maintenance programme, we safely removed asbestos insulating board (AIB) soffits from eight residential blocks comprising a mix of two and three-storey flats and houses. The project formed a key part of a wider refurbishment programme, enabling the Council’s framework contractor to replace the roofline systems immediately after the asbestos removal works.

Success relied on detailed planning, effective communication and close collaboration between all contractors. Our objective was to complete the works safely, efficiently and on programme while minimising disruption to residents and allowing follow-on trades to begin without delay.

Housing associations and local authorities are being encouraged to consider shower waste water heat recovery (WWHR) as part of their long-term planned maintenance and retrofit programmes, with the technology offering a simple, low-maintenance way to help tenants reduce energy bills while improving the efficiency of existing housing stock.

Robinson House Care Home is being newly decorated as part of an ongoing focus on improving our care homes, to create spaces that really feel like home for residents. 

The refurbishment project has seen the redecorating of all 70 bedrooms in the home, with new carpets and furniture, and new front doors for every room. Each house has a unique colour scheme, complete with patterned soft furnishings that are designed to create a comfortable and homely environment. 

The Birchett Road project in Aldershot involved the recladding of an existing building, delivering a high-performance, non-combustible aluminium cladding solution to upgrade fire safety, durability, and longterm façade performance. Situated within a prominent town centre location, the scheme required an external wall solution that would meet current regulatory expectations while also improving the visual coherence and consistency of the building elevations.

As with many refurbishment projects, the replacement of the existing external materials presented an opportunity not only to enhance aesthetics, but also to significantly improve the safety and resilience of the building envelope. The recladding strategy was therefore driven by a requirement for a compliant, robust and low-maintenance system capable of delivering demonstrable improvements in reaction to fire performance and longterm durability.