Two weeks ago, Sister Howard and I were sent to the William Weeks home to strip the paint off of the two mantles. This is what they looked like before we began. Several coats of paint on both of them.
We worked on this one for three days. We found faux wood paint underneath and so we are to take the top coats of paint off without disturbing the faux finish. It doesn't always happen.
This tedious job is taking hours and I'm betting when all is said and done, that this mantle will be sanded and repainted.
If you know what to look for, you can see the faux wood painted over the wood. Why did the people do that? It's already wood and has a wood grain. Why paint a fake wood grain over it? This particular fireplace may not be saved.
This fireplace, however, is faux painted to make it look like marble. Since William Weeks was the architect of the Nauvoo temple and there is marble in the temple, the historic department has said that this fireplace will be saved. Once the paint is off of this one, it will be sealed and no further restoration will happen.
Sister Howard has been working for two weeks straight on those fireplaces. I have moved on to other projects. One of them is to paint the basement of the Weeks home. In order to get down there, you have to navigate this very narrow stairway. There is actually a door from the outside so things can be taken down there. Like tools and a shop vac.
Sister Odum and I sucked up the dust, primed and painted this space. We ran out of paint on Friday so we will have to go back on Monday and finish the job. Elder Flanders came by on Thursday to work and asked to take my photo to show his wife how narrow this staircase is. He said it reminds him of the Nutty Putty caves.
Again, I am able to work in these historic homes and keep them beautiful. Who else gets to do this? I love it!
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