Highway church in Wilnsdorf gleams in new splendour

• Name

  Special resin protects wood façade of the highway church in Wilnsdorf

• Country

  Germany, 2023

• Categories

  Concrete Repair
  Joints & Sealants
  Floor Coatings

• Products

  MC-DUR TopSpeed flex
  Mycoflex 251
  Mycoflex 488 MS
  MC-Adhesive PU solid

Church with distinction

The Siegerland motorway church is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, about 100 kilometres east of Cologne, and was opened in May 2013. It offers travellers of all Christian denominations a place of peace and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the motorway, around the clock. In addition to regular end-of-week services, the highway church also hosts cultural events such as small concerts and meditations. The modern and minimalist design of the church is striking and has won several awards.  The exterior of the church is based on triangular shapes. Two pointed spires reach towards the sky. The entire façade is white. Inside, a unique place for contemplation and prayer has been created, especially with the imposing wooden interior dome.

Protecting the wooden structure

The highway church is a pure wooden structure on a concrete foundation. The exterior façade was clad with OSB panels and coated with a reactive resin. After a few years, however, the coating began to show signs of damage. Leaks developed, leading to swelling and rotting of the timber structure. A quick and permanent solution was needed to ensure the long-term use of the church. This was found by the responsible planning office Franz Ingenieure from Haiger together with the processing company Heinrich Schmid GmbH & Co. KG, Essen-Nord division, in the MC product range. Before the repair of the entire exterior surface could begin, the adhesive bond to the substrate was tested on a sample surface - with success.

Coating with MC-DUR TopSpeed flex

The repair work started in August 2021. As some of the OSB boards of the wooden construction also had to be replaced, they were first filled with the universal adhesive MC-Adhesive PU solid up to the thickness of the existing coating. The entire church was then coated with MC-DUR TopSpeed flex roll coating based on KineticBoost Technology®. The reactive resin was chosen for its good UV stability, crack bridging and fast curing. Mycoflex 251 primer was used as an adhesion promoter between the substrate and the coating. All permanently elastic joints were recoated with Mycoflex 488 MS in white. The renovation work was completed in October 2021 – much to the delight of the Friends of the Highway Church, whose fundraising efforts had made the renovation of the church possible in the first place. Even after two years, the unusual repair solution with a crack-bridging roll coating reliably protects the structure from the weather and lets the church shine in a fresh white.