Duchally Country Estate in Auchterader in Perthshire, set in twenty-seven acres of scenic parklands, is surrounded by some of the most spectacular and picturesque landscapes Scotland has to offer. All year round the resort attracts visitors seeking the great outdoors, breathtaking views of the mountains, glens, lochs and rivers and top class top accommodation and sports facilities.
A small dedicated in-house team keeps on top of all the necessary repairs and maintenance on the estate with a rolling programme of work to ensure that all Duchally鈥檚 facilities are always kept in pristine condition for the benefit of the guests, who expect, and receive, five star treatment.
Duchally attracts holidaymakers who want to 鈥榞et away from it all鈥� and that means that the maintenance team try to keep a very low profile and do their utmost to keep levels of disruption to an absolute minimum. With guests arriving at the resort all year round, it can be a difficult task to schedule major redecoration projects without causing inconvenience, especially where exterior painting projects are concerned, which necessarily take place throughout the summer months, coinciding with the height of the holiday season.
鈥漈he last thing our guests want to see is wet paint signs everywhere and scaffolding and access equipment spoiling the look of our elegant hotel or the luxurious lodges in the parkland鈥�, says Kenny Burns, responsible for all maintenance throughout the estate. 鈥淎nd of course, if facilities are out of operation they鈥檙e losing the company money. That鈥檚 why we always insist on using decorative coatings that will give us longlasting performance and help us to extend the redecoration schedules as long as possible. We swear by Sadolin and Sandtex Trade coatings because they鈥檙e formulated to help to protect the underlying fabric of our buildings and because we know our masonry and woodwork will retain its 鈥榡ust decorated鈥� look for years.鈥�
Ron Bert, Duchally鈥檚 head decorator for the past seven years, is very happy with Duchally鈥檚 paint and woodcare specifications. 鈥淚 have just a few short summer months to get all my exterior decorating work completed so I have to use really reliable, durable coatings that are easy and quick to apply and that I can rely on to perform consistently. Sandtex Trade High Cover Smooth is our number one choice for all exterior masonry and we use gallons of Sadolin Superdec, tinted to Duchally鈥檚 signature shade of blue, to decorate and protect all the timber cladding on the lodges and the balustrades and rails on decking and balconies.鈥�
One of Ron鈥檚 biggest challenges recently was to repaint the elegant hotel which is the centrepiece of the Duchally estate. This wasn鈥檛 just a maintenance coat, he says, 鈥渙ur architects has also specified a colour change from magnolia to white and a grey stone colour, so the entire hotel had to be repainted. It hadn鈥檛 been redecorated for many many years so some of the masonry in the exposed areas had become friable. I soon got that sorted out with Sandtex Trade Stabilising Solution though.鈥�
鈥淭he hotel is a massive building so it was a big job especially because I was doing it all by roller. But the worst bit for me by far was going up in a cherry picker, extended as far as it would reach, to decorate the hotel tower. I鈥檓 so glad we used High Cover Smooth because it went on really easily and gave such great coverage and opacity. It also has a manufacturer鈥檚 guarantee for 15 years durability so I won鈥檛 have to do the job again in a hurry!鈥�
High Cover Smooth is also used on the rapidly growing number of self catering lodges on the estate, and here Ron uses spray equipment to decorate the exterior masonry. Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels which owns Duchally is currently investing in its Scottish resort and has plans to build many more lodges in the near future which will all be decorated with Sandtex Trade High Cover Smooth and Sadolin Superdec.