Keep the structure.Replace what has expired.
A wall that is eight years old is usually a sound building with tired modules. The question is not whether the screen is old — it is how much of it can be kept once the pitch, the power and the access have been checked.
Four checks decidekeep or rebuild.
Run them in this
order, not in parallel
| Check | Keep the structure if | Rebuild if | Who measures it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | Steel is straight, fixings hold, corrosion is surface only | Load path or fixings have failed, or the wall must grow | Structural engineer, on site |
| Power | Distribution has headroom for the new load | The new wall needs more circuits than the building can give | Your electrician, against our load figure |
| Access | The existing service route still reaches every cabinet | Modules can only be reached by scaffold or rope access | You — this one is decided by the building, not by us |
| Geometry | New cabinet size divides into the existing opening | The pitch change forces a different cabinet module | Us, from your measured opening |
The geometry check is the one that kills most retrofits. Keeping the opening means keeping a cabinet size that divides into it; a finer pitch in the same opening usually changes the module count, not the outline.
What comes off,and what stays.
Same building,
new front
Modules and cabinet fronts
The part that carries the LED and the driver. Normally the whole reason for the retrofit.
Receiving cards
Replaced with the modules when the control protocol moves on; kept if the cabinet and card generation still match.
Power supplies
Usually replaced with the modules — an old supply running new modules is where a retrofit fails six months later.
Control system
Replaced when the old sender is out of support. This is the change most often forgotten in the budget.
Structure and steelwork
Stays. This is the cost the retrofit is trying to avoid, and the reason the four checks come first.
Cladding and trim
Stays if the outline stays. A pitch change that alters the cabinet module usually takes the trim with it.
Six steps,and where the risk sits.
Standard build
30 days
Survey
Opening measured, structure photographed, existing power and control documented.
Specification
Pitch chosen against viewing distance and the opening, not against the old pitch.
Sample on site
One cabinet built and powered in place before the order is released. This is the step that catches a geometry error cheaply.
Production
Standard lead time is 30 days. Fine pitch and gold-wire builds are confirmed separately.
Delivery
Modules, cards and supplies ship together, with 2% spare modules as standard.
Fit
Indoor and no work at height, with the client, the end user and local law all allowing it: we assist. Outdoor: guidance only — we hold no working-at-height certification.
The risk is nearly always at step 03. A sample cabinet in the opening costs a fraction of a wrong order, and it is the only check that proves the cabinet module, the trim and the access all agree.
When a retrofitis the wrong answer.
Said before
you spend
A retrofit only pays when the structure, the power and the access all survive it. If two of the three need work anyway, the saving is small and the schedule is longer than a new wall — because the site is occupied. We will say so at the survey stage. For a sun-facing facade, industry guidance for brightness runs 5,000–7,500 cd/m²; if the existing power cannot carry that at the required area, the retrofit case is already over.
What we hand overbefore any order.
A measured opening, a pitch recommendation against your viewing distance, a load figure for your electrician, and a written note on what your existing structure can carry. If the answer is "rebuild", that note says rebuild.
Send a photo of the walland the opening around it.
· what the wall is used for now