Truly Thomas Mansion

 Today I worked with Meg, an apprentice from this summer, on painting a small room that is accessible through the hallway leading from the library to the dining room. The room is an antechamber to a bathroom (which still has its original fixtures). The space will temporarily be used as a kitchenette for the staff of the Trust.

Just one month ago the walls were covered in moldy fabric. Now the window as been restored and replaced and the walls have been scraped, sanded, primed and painted.

We used a neutral color (above) called "Papaya". The name does not quite reflect the color itself. This is the same paint color used on the exterior of the Fairmount Waterworks on Kelly Drive.

While I worked with the roller, Meg edged around  the ceiling and base to make sure all the spaces were covered.  In hope of giving the room a crisp and bright appearance we decided to use "Bone White" for the ceiling and moulding.

Thanks to Meg for being an excellent teacher.

The Process:
1) Remove existing coats of paints through scraping techniques.
- Heat Guns:
Heat helps loosen the paint from the surface so it is malleable for lifting off with  scrapers without damaging the material underneath.
- Silent Paint Removers use infrared lighting to heat the paint and are useful for large surfaces because it can rest on the surface, unlike the hand-held heat gun.
- Scrape with the direction of the grain.
3) Sanding the surface to smooth the surface for the primer and paint.
4) Primer & Painting

A note for preservationists or perfectionists
It is not always a good thing to remove all traces of the paint because it is important for those who examine the building later on to use remaining or missed paint chips for analysis. This is nice to keep in mind when you feel compelled to perfectly remove all the paint from every crevice.

The Benefits of Paint Removal
- Exposes details that have been concealed through years of paint coats.
- Removes alligatoring (cracked paint surface that resembles alligator skin) which is a sign of paint failure over time.