The ACP cladding on our building is delaminating and fading in patches — can it be cleaned/refinished or does it need replacing?
Our building's aluminium composite (ACP) facade cladding is looking tired — some panels have faded and gone chalky, and in a few spots the surface seems to be lifting/separating (delaminating) at the edges.
Is this something that can be cleaned or refinished in place, or once ACP starts doing this does it have to be replaced? Trying to understand what we're actually dealing with before we get quotes for a whole facade.
3 answers
You've actually described two different failures, and they don't have the same answer — so don't let anyone quote a full re-clad before they've separated them.
Fading / chalking — the coating. ACP is two thin aluminium skins bonded to a core, and the outer skin carries a paint finish. In Dubai's UV that finish degrades: a PVDF (Kynar) coating is the good stuff and lasts many years, while a cheaper polyester finish chalks and fades much faster. If it's a quality PVDF that's just dull/dirty, it can often be cleaned and, in some cases, professionally re-coated in place — restoring appearance without replacing panels. A degraded polyester finish usually can't be brought back economically.
Delamination — the panel. When the aluminium skin lifts or separates from the core, that's structural failure of the panel itself — from heat cycling, water getting into unsealed edges, or poor original bonding. You cannot 'refinish' a delaminating panel; those panels get replaced.
The point nobody should skip: if you're replacing panels, that's the moment to confirm the core is fire-rated (FR / A2-grade) to current UAE rules — post-tower-fire this is not optional, and it's covered in the ACP fire-rating thread. Also spec a PVDF, marine-grade finish for a coastal facade so you're not back here in a few years.
Panel makers like Alucobond publish the finish and fire-rated core options. Get a facade survey that maps which panels are delaminating (replace) versus just weathered (possibly restore) before you quote a full re-clad — that's the job of an aluminium and metalwork specialist in Dubai working with the curtain-wall side, and it can save replacing panels that only needed cleaning.
The PVDF-vs-polyester point is the whole game long-term. Our older facade was a cheap polyester ACP and it chalked badly within a few years on the sun-facing elevation; the shaded sides were fine. When we did partial replacement we insisted on PVDF and it's held up far better. Pay for the finish, especially on south/west elevations.
If you're buying or managing the building, get the delamination mapped properly — it tends to spread from unsealed edges and around fixings once water gets in, so a few visible bad panels can mean more are on the way. And absolutely confirm the fire-rated core situation before spending on cladding; it affects both safety sign-off and the building's value.
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