Protecting your investment, the Swifix way

The following article recently appeared in Building and Construction Magazine:

Swifix offers ground-breaking new possibilities in the way of efficiencies and cost reductions.

In recent years, insulation has accelerated in importance for contractors and consumers alike and is amongst the most rapidly growing sectors in the industry.

Despite an uptake in business, techniques and solutions have been proportionately slower to progress, with systems unchanged for decades, but with the increase in activity and the increasing use of poor quality timber in the process a  method that has to change to prevent a future of failures.

Introducing pioneering best practice to a sector of renewed interest, Swifix offers ground-breaking new possibilities in the way of efficiencies and cost reductions.

Swifix made its entry into the marketplace at the end of 2015  and, with its revolutionary range of insulation products, has ambitions to invoke sector-wide change. Where insulation would ordinarily be interrupted by external fitments such as washing lines, downpipes, lights, alarms,  outdoor taps, signage, canopies, the company presents the opportunity for 100% building insulation – and at a fraction of the cost.

Millions of UK properties can benefit from insulation renewal and thousands are upgraded on a daily basis. At present, the process currently involves stripping every fitting from the exterior, and fitting large blocks of timber in order to be able to replace fixtures with a screw. The use of timber instantly compromises the insulation system and introduces areas of weakness, thereby pre- venting maximum gains in efficiency.

As Paul Brown, Managing Director of Swifix continues: “As soon as you incorporate timber into the system, you’re effectively introducing an alien, unnecessary product. As we face a shortfall in timber supplies and increasing costs, quality starts to depreciate and existing practice has the potential to cause long-term system failures in structures, put- ting customers at financial risk for repairs. Though it’s been best practice in the sector for quite some time, that’s purely because there has never been a commercially suitable alternative.”

That alternative, however, has now arrived and Swifix suite of products have been designed and engineered so as to be installed in conjunction with external or solid wall insulation, and are therefore capable of making a structure completely water-tight.

Alongside maximum thermal efficiency and the accompanying savings on annual fuel bills, clients are also provided the assurance of a product which is long-term, non-degradable and flexible to repair and maintain.

Paul Brown is keen to stress the advantages of such: “One of our target markets is the social housing market, as those properties require much more in the way of maintenance and repair. If somebody wants to fit something to the property three days, three weeks, or three years down the line, Swifix products provide the flexibility to do so without compromising on the integrity of either the structure or insulation.”

Of course, beyond a product being more technically-capable, it must be financially viable, and cost remains a motivating factor for both domestic and commercial property owners. As well as the long-term cost advantage of increasing energy efficiency, Swifix’s installation products are also far cheaper at initial investment; for a typical, three-bedroom, semi-detached house, using the

Swifix range would provide savings of up to 20% as opposed to the use of timber, and over 100% against alternatives currently on the market. The products in scale therefore provide critical competitive advantage for main contractors and developers.

Having currently gained approval and recommendation from 14 of the UK’s largest system manufacturers and secured the backing of the both National Insulation Association (NIA) and Insulated Render and Cladding Association (INCA), Swifix has high aspirations for the future. Determined to ‘re-define best practice’ in an industry of phenomenal growth, the company is encouraging businesses to embrace change and enjoy guaranteed results and savings.

The above article originally appeared in Building and Construction Magazine.