X-Tra Protection for Winchester Community Care Home

A trio of Sandtex products have been used to refresh the exterior of a care home in Winchester, delivering a long-lasting finish for the listed building. 

St John’s Winchester is a charity which cares for the elderly through a combination of almshouses and community support, as well as caring for those with dementia at its nursing home and day care facilities. 

With listed building status, one of the key areas of consideration for the refurbishment of St John’s House Winchester was ensuring the colour scheme – shades of white and black – met the approval of Winchester City Council, as well as the need for products to protect the exterior for years to come. 

Based on this criteria, three Sandtex products, supplied by Southampton’s Crown Decorating Centre, were chosen for the project: Sandtex X-Treme X-Posure®, Sandtex Flexigloss X-Tra and Sandtex Metalgloss X-Tra. 

Sandtex X-Treme X-Posure, which has 20-years proven durability is microporous – making it ideal for the listed building’s substrate which needs to breathe. Quick drying and with excellent adhesion, X-Treme X-Posure will ensure the building remains protected against the weather, long term. 

Sandtex Flexigloss X-Tra and Sandtex Metalgloss X-Tra are both hardwearing, as well as providing up to 10 years of protection from the elements. The exterior gloss systems have added inhibitors to minimise UV damage, providing long-lasting protection for the building’s exterior joinery and metal respectively. 

Commenting on the refurbishment, St John’s Winchester’s facilities manager Andy Ross said: “The feedback from our decorators about the ease of application of the Sandtex products we specified for the refurbishment has been nothing but positive. We’re very happy with the finished result, which still looks as good as it did the day the exterior was completed, even having been through the worst of the winter weather this year. 

“Crown Paints has been hugely helpful throughout the process, from recommending which products to use mixing colours to ensure they met Winchester City Council’s approval, and we’re looking forward to continuing our work with the team on future projects.” 

The phased refurbishment of the external fabric, which used 140 litres of Sandtex paint was carried out over a three month period and was completed in October.  

 Crown Trade’s Timonox has been specified for the interiors of a number of buildings belonging to St John’s Winchester, with one wing of a nursing home having already received a makeover courtesy of the flame retardant coating. 

As St John’s Winchester operates care homes under the new Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRFSO), it has a duty of care and has expressed interest in Crown Paints presenting its CPD on Burning Issues in order to upskill and expand staff knowledge. 

Joanne Thomas, specification sales manager at Crown Paints, commented: “Our technical team has worked hard to ensure these Sandtex products provide a superior finish for clients whilst being easy and efficient for decorators to apply. It’s great to hear that the team at St John’s Winchester is pleased with the end result, and we’re looking forward to working with them on the building’s interior and other projects with our flame retardant coating, Crown Trade Timonox.”