Paul generally works on his own, but for this large job, he enlisted the help of his friend and colleague Ricky. Paul was asked to come up with bird control solutions for a beautiful building overlooking the River Thames and Eton Bridge in Windsor. It was an old office block that had been converted into flats. What makes this building unique is the green copper cladding; while this makes it stunning to look at, it also means that no installation methods can be screwed into this surface.
The perimeter of the roof was proofed along the leading edge using
Defender® Wide Stainless Steel Spikes Proofing the leading edge prevents birds from landing and defecating over the edge, which creates an unsightly mess, not to mention a health hazard to the owners of the flats. This allows the birds to perch behind the spikes, therefore not excluding them from the site entirely, but living alongside nature.
Due to the copper cladding, the spikes couldn’t be screwed into position but as the surface was clean and dry, the silicone creates a strong fix which will last years. The result is a near-invisible installation of bird spikes, keeping the façade and balcony areas of this building guano free and looking beautiful in the summer sun.
Paul was also tasked with preventing pigeons from landing on the metal handrails of the balconies. Again, drilling wasn’t an option, so he devised an ingenious method of bending the posts to fit the post-and-wire system along the balustrades.
This roof and perimeter elements of this particular job was done under contract with the property maintenance company of the building, while the individual flats and balconies were quoted for individually. This situation can work very well, as the flat owner can see first hand the quality of work INSX provides before instructing Paul to go ahead and proof their own balconies.