BROWN'S RESTAURANT
THE QUAY, WORCESTER
Brown’s waterside bar and restaurant in Worcester enjoys a prime spot on the newly renovated quay. People from far and wide come here to relax, have a drink or something to eat and take in the tranquil view of the River Severn. Back in July 2007, severe rainfall caused the Severn to rise dramatically. Dirty floodwater soon entered the restaurant, kitchen and store – reaching a height of 40cm – and the restaurant was forced to close.
Closed until further notice
Any sort of closure puts a business and the jobs it creates in real jeopardy. The inside of the restaurant was ruined and it took several months for the water to subside. All the furniture, fixtures and fittings – including plasterwork and joinery – had to be stripped out and specialist drying equipment was installed. A huge amount of revenue was lost during what should have been a thriving summer period.
What we found
The main building contractors E G Carter approached us for some advice on structural waterproofing – to protect the restaurant from further flooding if it was to open again – and how to deal with any damp issues in the building, from either before or after the flood.
Our surveyors carried out a detailed inspection to find out how the floodwater had affected the walls and floors, and found:- the property was still drying out – because the walls had been under water for so long it would still take a long time to dry out
- contamination was a potential problem – floodwater contains many substances, such as sewage and oil based products. Even though the restaurant's surfaces had been treated as part of the initial clean up, trace elements of those substances would come to the surface of underlying masonry during the drying out phase and this would damage any future plastering and decorating efforts.
Guardian's Award Winning Recommendation
Getting the restaurant up and running again was everyone's main aim. We decided that the best course of action would be to install a cavity damp proofing membrane to deal with any contamination. This allowed the walls to dry naturally on the ‘wet side’ of the membrane and meant the owners could plaster and decorate the restaurant straight away. It also dealt with any existing rising or penetrating damp issues.
Fitting the membrane also ensured that if/when the restaurant flooded again, lower sections of flood affected plasterwork could be removed within days and the membrane could be cleaned and plastered over straight away, saving the owners from all the pain and expense of a long (and expensive) drying out period.
Once installed, the main contractors completed the remaining flood repair works and the restaurant re-opened in 2008.
National Innovation Award
This project soon became a case study for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the National Flood Forum, and was featured on TV and radio. During subsequent flooding in 2009, when all the neighbouring properties flooded, Browns remained bone dry.
We were delighted and honoured to be awarded the Property Care Association’s (PCA) Innovation Award during their 2009 National Conference.
ANOTHER FLOOD IN 2015
Worcester suffered widespread flooding once again in 2015 and due to its location the restaurant flooded again. But this time there was no two-month closure for Browns.
Within weeks the new owners had stripped the restaurant, kitchen and store – and installed drying equipment to remove the excess water and reduce humidity levels. Only plasterwork directly affected by floodwater needed to be removed and the exposed underlying membrane was cleaned and re-plastered immediately.
Browns opened for business many months earlier than before – with obvious financial benefits to the relieved owners and insurers.
If you would like to meet up and discuss how we could help you to complete projects on time and to high quality specifications, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
