Vandalism is a problem that has been around for all of human history. It’s ugly, it lowers property values and it costs millions of dollars each year in clean-up expenses. Everyone hates it, and the best type of graffiti protection is making sure it never shows up in the first place. Otherwise, other taggers and vandals will just add to the mess.
Property management professionals have many choices in fighting vandalism. One choice is to put up a protective film over the walls. The films do not prevent the vandals from defacing the walls, but are instead formulated to be easily peeled off after being hit. This helps in greatly lowering costs associated with cleaning up since instead of replacing the entire vandalized surface, you only replace the film.
Another method to protect against tagging is to apply a paint-resistant coating over the wall you are trying to keep clean. These coatings serve to prevent the vandals’ paints from penetrating, keeping the vandalism contained on the surface. The vandalism is then easily removed with a water-based paint remover. These coatings are designed to be permanent, so that if vandals hit the wall again then the coating will still be in effect.
A third option is to set up a good neighborhood watch program. Calling the police about an act of vandalism while it is still in progress can occasionally catch the tagger in the act. Properties which are known for having an effective neighborhood watch program may see an overall drop in tagging incidents.
In addition, hiring an artist to paint a mural over the wall has provided a strong deterrent against vandals. It seems that while a vandal has no trouble tagging up a regular wall, he often grants a level of respect to a wall with a mural and restrains himself from defacing it.
Graffiti protection is a round-the-clock matter. The ancient Romans had problems with it too. The reduction in property values coupled with the blow to city budgets caused by these vandals hurts everybody, but these methods give property managers a fighting chance.
Some fantastic resources on the topic of graffiti protection, real estate and property management are the sites Klottersanering and Klotterskydd where you can get plenty of related information.
