Suffering from vandals attacking your walls? Experts advise on how to protect your building

Suffering from vandals attacking your walls? Experts advise on how to protect your building

Illegal graffiti on walls is a common problem in apartment buildings. This problem is particularly acute in urban apartment blocks along busy streets. In order to maintain the aesthetic appearance of the building without being fined, residents incur additional costs for cleaning or repainting the facades. Kamilė Raustytė, Senior Manager of Building Administration at Civinity Namai, a company that maintains and manages apartment buildings, explains what preventive measures can help prevent illegal graffiti artists.

Fines can be imposed for not cleaning the façade

City municipalities have rules on cleanliness and cleanliness that determine how the facades of buildings in the city must be maintained.

In all cities, the rule is that owners of buildings must ensure that the building looks aesthetically pleasing, which means that all owners of flats and other premises in a block of flats are jointly responsible for the aesthetic appearance of the building’s façade, and for removing or repainting walls that have been defaced by vandals.

Failure to comply with these rules can result in administrative liability and fines of between €20 and €600 for the occupants of apartment buildings.

Cleaning of graffiti-marked facades every month

Graffiti on the walls of apartment buildings is a common problem faced by urban dwellers, especially those whose apartment buildings are located near high-traffic streets or in certain neighbourhoods.

According to Civinity Namai, the administrator receives an average of 10 reports of damaged facades every month.

When the administrator receives a report of damage to an apartment block, it notifies the police and requests a pre-trial investigation. It also organises, with the approval of the residents, the painting or cleaning of graffiti, the cost of which is shared with the owners of the apartments and other premises.

“If the police find the culprit, residents have the right to claim compensation for the damage caused to them. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of incidents, the perpetrators cannot be identified because the area of the apartment block is not monitored,” says Raustytė.

Ensure lighting and video recording of the area

Research shows that vandals are more likely to choose dark, deserted areas. To reduce the likelihood of defacing the walls of a block of flats, it is recommended to first ensure that the area is well lit.

“The façade of the apartment building and the surrounding areas should be well lit, which is particularly helped by LED lighting and motion sensors, which not only save electricity but also act as a good deterrent when walking around the building after dark,” advises a representative of Civinity Namai.

One of the most effective tools to deter vandals is CCTV cameras. As well as acting as a preventive measure, they also help to identify offenders and bring them to justice.

If you want to install CCTV cameras in a block of flats, it is recommended that you install them in all the places where vandals might encroach on the building’s facade. Just as important as the choice of the area to be filmed is the fact that the security cameras should be clearly visible but inaccessible to offenders.

Take care of facade protection measures

It is also recommended that the walls of the facade of the building are properly protected to protect against graffiti damage. In particular, special facade coatings can help to ensure that graffiti does not often penetrate the facade and can be easily cleaned.

When the façade is renovated, it can be painted with special washable paints. In cases where the façade is not coated with a washable paint, another solution is to coat the façade with impregnants containing wax.

In contrast, these coatings are temporary and must be renewed after the graffiti has been cleaned, but are also effective in avoiding repainting the façade and the higher costs that this entails.

According to the specialist, the façade of a block of flats can also be protected physically, for example by planting the wall, which is becoming increasingly hostile to graffiti, with climbing plants.

Alternatively, with the agreement of the municipality, such a wall can become a place for legal graffiti, which will enliven the area of the block of flats with a tasteful piece of art that will beautify the environment.

The use of preventive measures must be approved by a majority of residents

These preventive measures can not only help to avoid the attention of vandals, but can also reduce the cost of maintenance and repairs to the building’s facade in the long term.

They can be easily implemented in any apartment block, provided that the owners of the flats and other premises decide to make use of them with the consent of the majority of the owners.

“It is recommended to use at least some of these prevention measures for best results. When considering the cost of purchasing them, we always recommend that you consider that it is an investment that not only provides peace of mind and a beautiful environment, but also maintains or even increases the value of the property,” says K. Raustytė.