The Westin Tampa Waterside Hotel recently completed the restoration of its exterior that extended the service life of its façade by 25-30 years. Using NeverFade® Façade Restoration Coatings with Kynar Aquatec® from APV Engineered Coatings gave the hotel a much-needed facelift. And they did it at a much lower cost than replacing the brick façade and window profiles or having to repaint the exterior every three to five years, which is a typical coating lifecycle in Florida.

HEI Hotels & Resorts, the hotel’s owner/operator, also took advantage of a unique, 15-year color performance warranty from APV. The warranty, which is fully transferrable to future owners, covers both replacement product and the labor costs to re-coat if the Delta-E (ΔE, or Total Color Difference) of the coating shifts by a unit of five or more.

Strong Color Performance in Harsh Environment

The Westin is no stranger to the effects of rain, wind, high humidity, saltwater corrosion, bright sun and soaring temperatures. Indeed, most owners of commercial and institutional buildings in the area are well acquainted with rapid fading and chalking of painted exteriors - a problem that can be costly and time-consuming to fix, as well as cause disruption to building occupants and visitors.

When the Westin experienced interior damage due to water penetration through its brick façade, HEI Hotels & Resorts turned to coating contractor Stuart Dean and NeverFade from APV. Not only did they want to improve the building’s weatherproofing, they also wanted to give the hotel a fresh, new look that would last for years.

“Fifteen years without severe fading and chalking in the Gulf Coast of Florida is traditionally unheard of,” explains Mike Couchie, Vice President of Sales, APV Engineered Coatings. “Even with high-performance urethanes and 100-percent acrylic-latex coatings, the pigment and binder usually begin to break down after a couple years, leaving a significant shift in color and chalky residue on the surface. If left alone, paint will eventually deteriorate completely, leaving the building’s substrate bare and open to damage from the elements, which is a very costly problem to repair.”

The coating system’s long-lasting performance is due, in part, to the inclusion of Kynar Aquatec®. The tough and industry-proven PVDF resin resists thermal, chemical and ultraviolet degradation. Kynar Aquatec has been weathering in the field and in a Miami-based natural weathering testing site for 18 years to date. However, the resin’s first-generation technology, Kynar 500®, has been performing for over 50 years in harsh UV-prone environments with exceptional color retention.

Serving as the backbone of NeverFade coating technology, coupled with high performance additives and specialty grade inorganic pigments, Kynar Aquatec is highly resistant to UV degradation, chalking, dirt pickup, staining, algae, mold, fungal growth and erosion. Applied with the compatible primer systems offered by APV, the NeverFade coating system can even protect against rust, corrosion, and efflorescence, as well as promote long-term adhesion to the building surface.

For the Westin property, APV custom-blended its NeverFade Original Topcoat in custom-colored Westin Tan for use on the hotel’s brick surfaces and NeverFade Metal Restoration Topcoat in custom-colored Westin Granite for the window profiles. Custom-tinted W-1500 Universal Primer in a different hue of the topcoat colors were used on both the brick and the window profiles.

Minimizing Guest Inconvenience

HEI Hotels & Resorts wanted to make sure that the façade restoration project would have minimal impact on room reservations and guest activities. Typically, odors are a major concern and point of complaint for building occupants during this type of renovation. Because NeverFade coatings are waterborne, low VOCs and low odor, the project was completed with no impact on room reservations and hotel use by guests.

“Unlike competitive products that require a spray application, NeverFade was applied by roller and brush, which allowed us to eliminate overspray. We also were able to avoid complaints and an inconvenience for people entering and leaving the building,” said Rex Dean, Global Director, Façade Restoration, Stuart Dean, the coating contractor for the project.

“In addition to the strong warranty and attractive appearance of the coating system, we were pleased that NeverFade does not emit harsh solvents into the air, allowing us to not impact our guests’ experience with odors during the application period,” said Rob Willis, SVP Design & Construction, HEI Hotels & Resorts. “Another benefit of applying a water-based system was that it fits our culture to be green-conscious and eco-friendly where we can.”