The Mantle

There are two mantles in the William Weeks home.  They were both covered with layers of paint although they were original to the home.  Jared asked Sister Howard and I back in February to begin stripping the paint off.  We worked on the east one all day for three days.  I put some stripper on the west one and let it do it's thing. 

 Jared took it off either later in the day or the next day and found faux marbling underneath.

Jared called the history department to tell them what he found.  He was able to remove the paint to expose the original marbling. 

He cleaned it and then put a clear lacquer over the top.  Then he went about fixing the spots on the mantle that needed some attention.

This picture shows the original marbling.  The top part of this photo is the faux marbling done by Jared.  He did an amazing job!  I was amazed watching him work.  

He hasn't quite finished it yet, but it looks amazing.  On Saturday he was going to begin the marbling on the east mantle.  By the way, that one was completely stripped and was scheduled to be marbled as well.  Upon examination, Jared found that the east mantle was not marbled at all.  The gray he found under the paint was actually soot.  Therefore, he called the history department and they instructed him to faux grain it instead.  Pictures of both mantles to follow.