PROJECT DETAILS

The University of Virginia brought Canning in to help with another project on their campus, this time at the Chapel. The chapel hosts more than 350 events a year that include weddings, memorial services, daily church services, a cappella performances, rehearsals and dramatic performances.

The Gothic chapel was originally heated by coal-fired furnace which had caused smoke damage and, in turn, some of the interior finishes had been darkened over the years to unify the tones. This project involved the restoration and refinishing of historical elements within a heritage building. We painted plaster walls, refinished wainscot, chair rails, and baseboards to match historic woodwork with traditional varnish. Interior doors were hand-stripped and refinished.

We also restored the organ pipes through cleaning, color matching, and decoration, followed by installation. For the organ surround woodwork, we removed the old wax coating, cleaned the wood, toned damaged areas, and reapplied wax. Additional work included stripping and restoring wood ceiling elements and carved wood heads as per the Interior Finishes Analysis. We removed old finishes from brick arches and Brownstone columns with suitable techniques and chemicals, then restored them with specified pigments.