Avondale Racecourse
Fire Damage Restoration

TPW

LOCATION

Avondale Racecourse, Auckland

SERVICE

Fire Damage Remediation

The Challenge

A fire had left smoke and soot contamination across the affected structures at the racecourse. Simply repainting over the residue would have masked the problem rather than solved it, so the surfaces needed to be brought back to a genuinely clean condition before any new coating could be trusted to perform.

Our Approach

BlastOff soda blasted the fire-affected areas to lift soot and smoke residue from the surfaces without damaging the substrates underneath. Once the cleaning was complete and the surfaces properly prepared, the same team carried out a full repaint of the affected structures, restoring both protection and appearance in a single, coordinated sequence rather than treating cleaning and painting as separate jobs.

The Outcome

The racecourse structures went from fire-damaged to fit for purpose through one coordinated programme. Soot and smoke residue were removed rather than painted over, and the affected areas were left freshly coated and protected, ready to return to normal use as part of the racecourse’s operation.

From Smoke Damage to Fit for Purpose: Restoring Avondale Racecourse After Fire

A fire at Avondale Racecourse left the affected structures carrying smoke and soot contamination that needed to be dealt with properly before the site could function again. The temptation after a fire is often to repaint quickly and move on, but painting over soot and smoke residue only masks the problem rather than resolving it, and any new coating applied over contaminated surfaces is working against a poor bond from day one.

BlastOff approached the Auckland racecourse job as a single coordinated fire damage remediation programme rather than two separate trades handing work back and forth. Soda blasting was used across the fire-affected areas first, lifting soot and smoke residue from the surfaces without damaging the substrates underneath it, a method that suits sites where the fire has contaminated the finish without destroying the structure itself. Once those surfaces were properly prepared and confirmed clean, the same team carried out a full repaint of the affected structures, restoring both protection and appearance as one continuous sequence instead of a cleaning contractor and a painting contractor working to different standards.

That continuity is what took the racecourse from fire-damaged back to fit for purpose, with soot and smoke residue removed rather than concealed and the affected areas left freshly coated and ready to return to normal use. For venue operators and facilities managers facing similar smoke or fire contamination, the practical takeaway is to treat cleaning and recoating as one scope with one accountable standard, rather than assuming a repaint alone will solve what is fundamentally a surface contamination problem. A proper site assessment beforehand helps confirm which areas need residue removal only and which need a full recoat, since applying the same treatment across an entire site regardless of how badly each area was affected tends to waste time on lightly marked surfaces while under-servicing the worst-hit ones.