Major flood at City Chambers

Rainbow International was called into action to save one of Scotland’s most historic buildings after it was flooded with hundreds of gallons of water.

A leaking radiator on the third flood of Glasgow’s City Chambers caused dirty water to pour down from an office into the basement damaging many eminent suites en route.

The City Chambers is an impressive symbol of Glasgow’s political strength and historical wealth. Completed in 1888, it has served the city with distinction for over 100 years.

The damage was discovered by security staff who found the water running down the building’s internal walls. Rainbow International’s branch based in Airdrie received a call from Glasgow City Council asking them to attend site urgently to deal with the water damage to the 7 affected rooms.

The rooms damaged at Glasgow’s City Chambers included offices, adjoining halls and the Satinwood Suite, which is used for high profile events. Rainbow attended site within 1 hour of receiving the call to minimise secondary damage to the historic building.

As the ornate ceiling had suffered extensive water damage, ISS Restoration’s major loss team were called in to help with the complex drying process. A combination of conventional and injection drying was used to minimise the damage. Sufficient holes were drilled into the decorative ceiling of the Satinwood Suite to enable air injection pipes to be installed allowing air to circulate above.

Rainbow project managed the entire restoration process, their work included drying the structure of the building, restoration of the chandeliers and soft furnishings as well as advising and providing information on required strip out work. Throughout the course of the reinstatement process, Rainbow had technicians on-site to assess, monitor and ensure an optimal drying environment was maintained.