Author: alpstar

The drainage system performs an important function in protecting the walls and foundation of the building from the negative effects of precipitation. Water drainage increases the overall life of the house and prevents the appearance of dampness in the walls. We offer reliable and proven solutions for your buildings – high-quality systems and correct installation of pipes and gutters.

Our team of industrial climbers has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of drainage systems, proven suppliers of quality components and all the necessary equipment and tools for installation. The method of installing pipes by climbers allows the work to be done optimally quickly and with minimal labor costs.

Our clients are private customers, commercial and government agencies. We provide the same guarantee for all our work performed.

Our additional option – post-warranty service:

• cleaning gutters from leaves, litter, moss;
• removing icicles in winter;
• installation of snow melting and anti-icing;
• replacement of elements that may have been damaged due to force majeure.

Before calculating the cost of work, we carefully analyze the features of your building, its architectural and design features, so that the drainage system works optimally efficiently. In addition, we offer components that will harmoniously fit into the overall appearance of the facade.

By ordering the installation of gutters and gutters by climbers, you save money and get quality at the same level as installation from a scaffolding or aerial platform. We try our best to satisfy the needs of our Customers and we offer professional services at competitive prices.

You can get a free consultation or invite our specialist by phone
(067) 25-82-999 or by sending a request to the mailing address: alpstar.kiev@gmail.com

Alp Star offers a full range of high level glazing and glass replacement services. Our expertise, extensive experience and rope access techniques allow us to properly perform work at any height, and cooperation with glass manufacturers allow our Customers to escape all troubles connected with production and delivery of separate glass units.

• Glazing inspection (visual). It is carried out by industrial climbers outside the building. During inspection, defects are revealed not only in glazing units, but also in pressure plates, decorative cover caps, reveals, and thermal breaks. Upon completion of glazing inspection, we provide the Client with a photo report describing the revealed defects and recommendations regarding their rectification or replacement.
• Glazing measurement. It is done in case the façade technical documentation is missing, but the Client needs to have cracked glass be replaced with new one. Rope access technicians demount pressure plates to measure a width and height of glass units. Our Company bear the responsibility for the measurement results provided to the Client.
• Manufacturing glazing units. We have a reliable experience in cooperation with the leading glass manufacturers in Kyiv, and thanks to that we can quickly and properly order a glass unit to be produced and delivered to the required location. If a formula of film coating is unknown, we may need a piece of glass to analyse it.
• Glass replacement on vertical facades. In the event a glazing unit is damaged, or the Customer wants to replace a window pane with bulletproof or low-emissivity glass, or to change a façade colour, we are ready to do all scope of works on a turnkey basis. By using suction caps and block and tackle systems, our glaziers will demount a damaged glass unit, lift a new glass unit on the floor, install it into the window opening, and seal joints.

Glass façade caulking and sealing. Caulking is required when insulation is damaged in mullions and transoms or in joints of spider glazing systems. It is unnecessary to remove a glazing unit to be sealed. It is simply enough to demount pressure plates, strip back old sealant, clean out a base, and fill a joint with new glass sealant.

If you want to invite our specialist or to hire our services, feel free to call us at
+380 67 258 2999 or e-mail us at alpstar.kiev@gmail.com

Some day or other, most people living in panel buildings in Kyiv are faced with the problem of unsealing of expansion joint. This results in draughts in apartment, freezing of walls, and leads to damp and mould on the internal surface of walls. Expansion joints are the weakest part in buildings of such type.

Having solid experience and using innovative materials, Alp Star team of rope access professionals offers a whole scope of expansion joint caulking services:

• Inspection of façade to reveal any damage in joint water-proofing (photo report);
• Initial caulking of expansion joints;
• Secondary caulking (without stripping back of joints);
• Secondary caulking of joints (with partial stripping back);
• Secondary caulking (with filling joints with Vilaterm insulation cord and water-proofing);
• Caulking by using the Warm Seam technology;
• Caulking and sealing of canopies, balconies and roofs in Kyiv;
• Caulking and sealing of flashing and glass units.

Taking into account the severity of joint damage, our experienced abseilers will choose a proper technology, relevant materials (Hermabutyl (butyl rubber mastic sealant), Oksiplasts (two component polyurethane sealant), Elur (multi-component sealant) and Saziplast (non-shrinking caulk) and do caulking of joints and seams in a high quality manner. We offer a three-to-five-year warranty depending on the selected type of materials.

• Selected technology (go to ARTICLES section to get more information about the applied technologies;
• Material to be used (as the cost of materials varies sharply);
• Scope of works to be performed (when ordering to caulk 5 LM, the cost of one linear meter will be rather higher than the cost of one linear meter when ordering to caulk all joints of an apartment or a whole building section).

Minimum cost of works and materials per 1 LM is 150 UAH.

If you want to get free-of-charge consultation or invite our specialist, please contact us at
+380 67 258 2999 or by e-mail at alpstar.kiev@gmail.com

Waterproofness is a capacity of material to be resistant to penetration by water. Waterproofing of façade means a process of applying special coatings on façade surface up to its full saturation level, which results in ultimate resistance to the ingress of water from outside. Such coatings penetrate into the wall surface to a depth of 2 to 5 mm and form a thin film, which reduces entering water molecules into surface pores by 95%. In most cases, materials used to waterproof facades are colourless, that’s why the façade appearance remains almost unchanged. But if the Customer wants to change the façade colour, it is possible to add colouring agents into the waterproofing coating and to get the desired colour effects, e.g. wet effect. Chemical substances are steadily retained in the material and do not fade away in the long run. Waterproofing extends the useful life of façade up to 15 years and prevents salt efflorescence.

Waterproofing treatment can be carried out on porous hygroscopic surfaces such as concrete, foam concrete blocks, aerated concrete blocks, brick, limestone blocks, lightweight expanded clay aggregate, various types of tiles, sand and cement renders, corrugated fiber cement sheets and slates as well as natural and artificial stone. As described above, façade waterproofing:

• limits content of soluble compounds in walls;
• increases density of building envelope materials and decreases their capillary density and penetration;
• prevents rewetting.

In addition to the above listed advantages, façade waterproofing helps to:

• enhance the thermal insulation characteristics of a surface;
• improve corrosive resistance of a structure and increase frost resistance;
• extend a lifespan of finish coatings and paints;
• prevent microbial growth on façades.

Specific characteristics of the material to be treated help to choose a proper application technique and a type of waterproofing agents. In all cases, with no exceptions, before starting work, a wall should be cleaned from dust, cement traces, dirt and, what is a must, from salt efflorescence. After being cleaned, façade should be dried, and when the temperature is below +5 С^o, it’s time to start waterproofing work.

Relevant experience and expertise of Alp Star rope access technicians allow performing clean-up activities and waterproofing your building as soon as reasonably practicable.

If you want to get free-of-charge consultation or invite our specialist, please contact us at
+380 67 258 2999 or by e-mail at alpstar.kiev@gmail.com

Almost all porous building materials of both artificial and natural origin are subject to salt efflorescence.

Façades can be stained when salts contained in bricks, cement, concrete, mortars, plasters, anti-freezing agents, plasticizers, etc. will come off the wall surface and form crystalline deposit of salts.

The chemical composition of efflorescence is a mixture of calcium, carbonate, potassium and other elements. Some of these elements are dissolved in water, but most of them can be removed only with the help of acid and alkaline solutions.

• Plasters, concrete or brickwork contain water-soluble salts (often sulphates).
• Enough moisture is required for water to penetrate into the material and for salts to dissolve and to be then brought to the surface. Water carries salts to the surface and begins to evaporate, which makes salt stains invisible. The higher the ambient humidity, the more likely that efflorescence begins to appear as water begins to evaporate directly on the surface.
• The material should be porous to carry a solution to the surface with further crystallization. Therefore, the higher the porosity of material, the stronger its capacity to wash away compounds and to form efflorescence.

It is very important to understand that in the absence of at least one of these three factors, efflorescence is impossible to appear on the surface. But heavy exposure to one or the other factor increases an intensity of salt migration.

To remove efflorescence, special flushing products are used. Salt removing agents should be rather strong to neutralize unwanted compounds and, at the same time, non-aggressive in order not to damage the façade cladding (brick, clinker tiles or rough raw stone).

It is impossible to remove efflorescence with water and brush since water having penetrated into walls moves away a new portion of salt, and rough brushes can damage the cladding.

Alp Star uses up-to-date products of local and foreign producers, which deeply and profusely penetrate into a wall for its full thickness, and compounds contained in such products effectively bring salt traces up to the surface.

After removing efflorescence from the façade, it is ultimately recommended to treat the surface with a proper waterproofing agent. It is of high importance as waterproofing agent can fill in clean pores of the material and prevent appearance of new efflorescence at all.

If you want to get free-of-charge consultation or invite our specialist, please contact us at
+380 67 258 2999 or by e-mail at alpstar.kiev@gmail.com

Building facades are continuously exposed to negative and destroying effects. Sharp temperature drops, atmospheric precipitation, traffic-induced vibrations, UV radiation – these are the main contributors to the aging of facades. Exterior appearance of the building is its public image and reputation of a company. This is the main reason why it is highly important to have the façade timely inspected and repaired.

If to have in mind not only aesthetics of a building, then timely repair of facade can extend the lifetime of the building and keep its technical characteristics unchanged.

Alp Star has decades of experience in rope access repair and restoration of building facades in Kyiv. Thanks to modern rope access techniques and proper quality assurance, our professional industrial abseilers can manage all your tasks easily and effectively.

• Inspection of facades to reveal defects;
• Removal of old cladding from facades and cleaning;
• All types of finishing works, namely façade priming, rendering/plastering, spackling and painting;
• Thermal insulation of facades in Kyiv;
• Restoration of decorative and architectural elements.

You are welcome to request our free-of-charge consultation and to invite our specialist to visit your property. All our rope access façade works are covered with a five-year warranty.

• Residential properties such as detached houses and mansions;
• Administrative and office buildings;
• Multi-dwelling units and block properties;
• Industrial buildings.

If you want to invite our specialist or to hire our services, feel free to call us at
+380 67 258 2999 or e-mail us at alpstar.kiev@gmail.com

The same as there are no two identical persons on the Earth, there are no completely identical façades. Each and every façade is unique in terms of shape, size, cladding and severity of exposure to natural and man-made hazards. Therefore, in order not to face an issue of repairs every 2-3 years, Alp Star skilled rope access team selects the most appropriate set of works and materials in each separate case.

Facade works can be roughly divided into the following steps:

• Facade inspection;
• Development of restoration project design (if necessary);
• Based on project design, development and approval of cost estimate documents, and execution of contract;
• Obtaining approvals from competent government authorities in Kyiv;
• Erection of scaffolding, platforms (boards) and installation of debris netting (in case of rope access, netting is not required);
• Facade cleaning (removal of efflorescence, old rendering and painting coatings);
• Facade priming – treatment of base layer;
• Restoration of architectural elements (if required);
• Preparation of surfaces for finish coating (plastering on beacons);
• Application of quartz primer;
• Facade decorative rendering (rustic-textured coating, vermiculite coating and others);
• Facade painting (acrylic, silicate and silicone resin emulsion paints);
• Installation of metal sills, drip caps and rainwater systems.

This list is not comprehensive, especially when it comes to overhaul of facades, which could require installation of steel structures for strengthening building envelope, shotcreting, marble or granite cladding.