The job
Mantra On View is a high rise hotel on View Avenue in Surfers Paradise, a block back from the beach. Remcon Group, a Gold Coast remedial contractor, was re-waterproofing parts of the building: an outdoor deck, the level 4 balconies and wall joints, and the planter boxes along the balconies. Before any new membrane could go on, the old finishes had to come off and the concrete had to be clean and sound.
Remcon brought in Perfect Concrete Care for the demolition and surface preparation, the same arrangement as our Magnoli Apartments job at Palm Beach. Our Queensland crew worked the hotel from April to June 2025, one area at a time, with the building open to guests the whole way through.
What the work involved
- Rolling back the synthetic turf on the outdoor deck, breaking out the tiles and mortar bedding underneath, and grinding the slab and wall upturns back to concrete
- Cutting the old sealant out of the vertical wall joints on level 4 and grinding the faces either side of each joint, including digging planter soil out by hand to reach the joints behind it
- Jackhammering and cutting a channel in the slab along the glass door lines and cleaning it out
- Stripping the tiles and old waterproofing off the level 4 balconies and grinding the slabs clean, with the glass, doors and balustrades covered in protection film
- Emptying the balcony planters of plants and soil, then grinding the old membrane off the planter walls and floors back to bare concrete
- Barrowing the rubble and soil down to skips in the basement car park and leaving each area clean at the end of every shift
- Patching the concrete where needed at the end, ready for the waterproofer
What made it hard
It was a working hotel. Guests, staff and functions were in the building every day, so breaking and grinding had to fit around what was happening around us.
The deck and walkways were exposed to the weather. You cannot grind a wet slab clean, so rain set the pace in the first weeks.
The planters were the slow part. Each one had to be emptied by hand before any grinding could start, the old membrane was stuck hard to the walls, and the troughs were narrow, so most of the work was done kneeling inside them with a hand grinder.
How it was done
Tiles and bedding came off with electric breakers and jackhammers. The slabs were then ground with a floor grinder where there was room and 5 and 7 inch hand grinders on dust shrouds everywhere else, all running into vacuum extraction so the dust stayed in the work area.
On the balconies, the glass, door frames and balustrades were covered before any breaking started. In the planters, the soil went out in tubs and buckets first, then the membrane was ground off the floor and walls until only bare concrete was left. Remcon released areas to us in order and the waterproofer followed behind.
Outcome
The outdoor deck, walkways, level 4 wall joints, balconies and planters were all handed over as bare, clean concrete, area by area, finishing with patching in late June 2025.
Lessons learned on this job
Every job teaches the crew something. These are the ones we took from Mantra On View.
What worked
- Covering the glass, doors and balustrades before the first tile was broken, so nothing on the balconies got marked
- Hand grinders on shrouds and vacuums in the planters, so the membrane dust stayed inside the trough and off the rooms next door
- Emptying each planter completely before grinding started, so the grinder was never working around soil and roots
What was difficult
- A hotel open to guests and functions, so the noisiest work had to fit around what was happening in the building
- Rain on an exposed deck, which stops grinding until the slab dries
- Narrow planter troughs with membrane stuck hard to the walls, where most of the work was done on hands and knees
If you have something similar
Remedial contractors, hotel operators and body corporate managers re-waterproofing an occupied building need the old finishes off cleanly without upsetting the people inside. Have a look at our waterproofing and membrane removal Gold Coast, concrete grinding Gold Coast and coating and membrane removal pages, or get in touch and tell us what needs to come off.
Need this done on your building?
Perfect Concrete Care acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.