Old, established buildings situated in beautifully maintained gardens with mature, established Moreton Bay figs certainly make The Southport School an attractive school campus.
However, the combination of the gardens and buildings also presented grounds staff with ongoing maintenance issues, as staff were required to clean out the gutters up to six times a year to prevent gutters and downpipes becoming blocked by leaf debris.
Previous blockages had resulted in flooded ceilings, damaging both the school properties and equipment. As such, gutter maintenance was not a task that could be ignored. However, the task represented a significant ongoing cost to the school as well as an occupation health and safety hazard, as staff were required to complete this dangerous work “at height”.
The aesthetics of The Southport School ’s heritage buildings presented an additional challenge, as any gutter protection system would need to blend in with the school while still delivering the usual benefits of reduced maintenance costs and risks.
Solution
After considering the school’s aesthetic requirements and the size of the leaves around the school property, Blue Mountain Co’s 4mm Steel gutter mesh was selected for installation across seven school buildings.
Since the mesh was installed, maintenance requirements have significantly decreased. This has led to a reduction in ongoing costs and lowered occupational health and safety risks for the grounds staff.
