Case Study: Paint Removal for Warehouse in Downtown Toronto

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Service: Paint Removal

Wickens Dry Ice Blasting worked on a paint removal project at an old factory/warehouse in downtown Toronto that was being re-purposed into office spaces. The building was constructed of brick and heavy wood members and the floor was built with 2” x 10” planks to withstand the weight of heavy machinery and stock. Like most of the factories and warehouses in the area, this building with multiple layers of paint, some of it containing hazardous materials on masonry walls, woodwork, and exterior surfaces.

Wickens had worked with this client on a similar project in 2021 and was approached due to our extensive experience with paint removal and surface finishing and containment expertise.

The Challenge

Wickens was tasked with removing the paint on the underside of the floor and from the thick wooden columns and beams. Other parts of the building were already occupied, and so the project area had to be carefully contained to prevent damage to the windows and drywall finishes and to prevent dust escape – always a challenge in older buildings.

On the floor above, the tenant was a high-tech recording company with newly installed electronic equipment that could not suffer any dust seeping or blowing into its space, especially up through the floorboards. The solution here was to have the team lay down a “sandwich” of rip-proof poly sheeting, expanding foam and Masonite boards to completely seal off the floor and allow the tenant to continue safely working in their unit.

The Solution

Wickens used dry ice and a crushed glass blast media to remove all the paint layers and leave the surface with a clean, fine-grained raw wood finish.

Once the underside of the floor was completely blasted, our team carefully vacuumed the area and then removed the containment.

In the upstairs unit, the temporary protective layers over the floor were dismantled and any traces of dust were carefully vacuumed without any lost time to the tenant or any contamination of its sensitive equipment.

The Result

Without any interruption or inconvenience to the other businesses in the office block, 4,000 square feet of prime downtown office space was completely cleared of old industrial paints and given the clean raw material finish that is currently so in vogue among the owners and users of Toronto’s venerable old buildings.

Wickens Dry Ice Blasting tackles the toughest jobs across Ontario, offering fire restoration, mould remediation, asbestos abatement, lead paint abatement, and more. Contact us today for a consultation on your paint removal needs.