Dismantling a Cold Room with MTCSS
Do you have a cold room that you no longer need? Or maybe you want to move your cold room to a new site, but aren’t sure where to begin? Don’t fret, MTCSS are here to help you with a step-by-step guide on how to dismantle a cold room!
The Process of Dismantling a Cold Room
Each cold room construction will vary, as cold rooms have different elements and have often been designed bespoke to your needs – therefore the dismantling process will differ from cold room to cold room.
Dismantling a cold room is essentially reverse to installing a cold room, and most common way to dismantle a cold room includes the steps below:
Before Dismantling Your Cold Room
Before you even begin to dismantle your cold room you should move any products to a suitable facility and then switch it off – so you must ensure that you have a suitable storage solution lined up to store your products . Do you require a temporary cold room? Talk to one of our experts today!
You should also note that there are other components of your cold room that should be considered before dismantling/removing. For example, your cold room shelving, lighting, and refrigeration systems!
When it comes to refrigeration systems you should invest in a specialist to help remove your refrigeration systems, as most must be decommissioned safely and securely. Because you can’t release the gas into the atmosphere, it needs to be carefully weighed in bottles and recorded. This is to avoid accidents (as some refrigerants are flammable) but mainly because releasing gas into the atmosphere negatively impacts the environment!
Cold Room Ceilings – Part 1
Before undertaking any work from a height, you must understand that there is always a risk of injury and so it’s extremely important to put your own safety measures and fall prevention systems in place – such as an external barrier system, making sure there is safe ingress and egress and using RAMs produced by your business.
On top of the roof, cut any flash band tape that may have been placed over joints or external capping to seal. Cutting the tape allows you to release all the external capping around the perimeter of the ceiling panels, whilst maintaining the integrity and fundamental performance of the cold room.
Cold Room Doors
Once the cold room roof has been prepared for dismantling, move onto the cold room doors. Removing your cold room doors (and the cold room door frames) from the cold room’s structure allows a considerable amount of weight to be relieved from the room in preparation for the removal of the ceilings.
The relief of weight will also help keep the cold room wall panels remain stable once the ceilings are removed and helps to eliminate any chances of your walls collapsing from additional weight and force upon them.
Cold Room Ancillaries
After removing your cold room doors and door frames, the next part of your cold room removal is the internal trims.
First, remove the wall to ceiling trims to release the ceiling panel from the cold room walls in preparation for the ceiling removal. However, when doing this you should leave the upright corner trims in place until you are ready to take down the walls – as this keeps the cold room structurally in place.
Cold Room Ceilings – Part 2
Now you’ve removed the internal trims from your cold room walls, you’re all set to begin removing your ceilings.
Start by removing the ceiling panels from one end, by pushing two ceiling panels at the first joint from the end wall, either mechanically or physically (depending on height, space, thickness of panel) -, therefore breaking the seal.
Once the seal is broken, there are different methods to remove your ceilings depending on the size of your cold room. The most common way is to lift one end of the ceiling panel up and over the side wall, and gently lower to the other end. Gradually lower the other end and carry the panels out to the storage area to be collected. Repeat this process until all ceiling panels are down.
Cold Room Wall Panels
Now the ceilings are removed, you can begin dismantling the rest of your cold room – the ‘shell’. Your cold room walls are comprised from insulated cold room panels and secured in place using corner caps.
Starting in one corner and working your way around the room, remove the capping from your cold room panels, and remove each wall panel individually until you are left with a ‘C-shaped’ cold room. Doing it this way allows your cold room to remain structurally sound, as opposed to removing all cold room wall panels, leaving no support for the other cold room walls.
Whilst removing the cold room panels, cold room doors, and ceiling panels you should place them in a skip (usually provided when employing a contractor), or other suitable storage area until they are collected.
Cold Room Flooring
For a freezer cold room or cold room with a floor – take up all trims, floor plates and remove the base panels and heater matt. Then you can unscrew the capping or trims that were fixed to the floor and begin to clean up any mess.
For a chiller cold room or floorless cold room – you can simply unscrew the floor channel that your cold room walls were sat in and begin to clean up any residual mess left over!
Cold Room Solutions by MTCSS
If you require a new cold room or would like to talk to an expert about the benefits a new cold room could bring your business – then get in contact with our team today. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a reputable cold room contractor to dismantle your cold room – MTCSS is the perfect option for you.
Don’t just take it from us though – read a range of our client testimonials here!
Perhaps you’re looking for something else? Our E-commerce site stocks an incredibly broad range of cold room spares and parts, perfect for your last minute cold room projects or cold room requirements. Browse our range of cold room spares today.
Get in contact with MTCSS today with your cold room queries or requirements – our experts are on hand Monday to Friday, and are contactable on the following:
Email us at sales@mtcss.flywheelsites.com, call us on 01886 833381 or fill in an enquiry form here!
Frequently Asked Questions
While it might seem an overwhelming task at first if you need to move or even remove your current cold room, it isn’t as hard as it might seem, thanks to the modern cold room panel-based construction.
These interlocking cold room panels are actually surprisingly simple to disassemble and reassemble in their new location. Just make sure to check each panel thoroughly before you try and put them back together again, as even tiny elements of damage can affect the insulating value.
However, if you have a much older cold room that is not made from interlocking panels, you might well run into more difficulty.
If you need more advice or have an older cold room that requires expert assistance, call us on 01886 833381 or email sales@mtcss.co.uk, and our experienced team will help however they can!
As you might expect, how long it will take to dismantle a cold room will depend on a few factors, including:
- The size
- Age/construction type
- Refrigeration system
However, as a rough guide, it could take the following amount of time to take down your existing cold room:
|
Size of cold room |
Time to dismantle |
|
Small – 100 to 200 square feet |
2-4 hours |
|
Medium – 200 to 400 square feet |
4-8 hours |
|
Large – 400+ square feet |
8+ hours, potentially up to a full day |
If you don’t have the experience, staff, or time to dismantle, cold room experts MTCSS can help.
For a quote or to discuss your needs in full, fill in our enquiry form today with as much detail as you have and we’ll get back to you with a quote.
If you are quite handy, you should be able to manage cold room removal yourself – especially if you follow the steps in our blog above!
However, you will need to bear the appropriate qualifications to add or remove the refrigerant element of your cold room, as refrigerant gases need to be carefully recovered and recorded, in order to remain on the right side of safety and environmental compliance while also stopping harm.
If your on-site team is not confident or you don’t have an on-site maintenance team to rely on, just get in touch with MTCSS to book an expert team to give you a hand. If needed, we can also reassemble your cold room in its new position!
Just as you would empty and unplug a domestic fridge or freezer before moving it, you’ll need to empty and turn off your cold room.
Moving all products to a safe location beforehand ensures they will be kept in the best possible condition, at the correct temperature, and cannot be contaminated or compromised in any way.
It also ensures safe working conditions for the staff dismantling cold rooms, as they could pose a real trip hazard. This could lead to frustration in the best-case scenario or trips and accidents in the worst.
If you don’t have the expertise needed on site to remove your existing refrigeration system and cold room, call us on 01886 833381 or email sales@mtcss.co.uk, and our team will be able to help.