This week i have been asked by a long term customer to re-vamp their old oak fire surround, it will be documented over the course of several weeks because of the work involved, i have been told it needs a little work but i think it needs a lot more than that !
It is a very beautiful piece that you don’t see today and is really worth the effort of being restored, the carvings and workmanship are incredible and i am very fortunate to be in a position to be asked to take on this challenge. It originally came from a house in London belonging to my customers parents and was removed when they sold the house and has been in storage for over fifty years
There is a build up of dirt which needs to be removed first, the finish needs to be stripped back carefully and then i will be able to see its true beauty and colour and be able to see exactly where i intend to go with it
The damp from storing it for so long has had its detriment to the oak causing movement, there is damage to the front top edge and the right hand foot is completely missing
I will need to machine some new oak to the correct sizes required and try to replicate the mouldings to match the existing ones, once this has been achieved i will reconstruct the missing components, repair the damage and colour match them in so that they look part of the original piece
I will try to replace the damaged area of moulding on the front of the mantle shelf but have to be certain that i can do this before i decide to undertake this as i will need to chop out the damage and replace it like for like – this is the most difficult part as i see it as there is only ever one chance at doing this
In taking on a project like this it is essential to keep the original patina and complete the repairs in a traditional and sympathetic way to ensure it doesn’t look wrong – its so easy to try and do too much so my intentions are to do only what is necessary here
I will keep you posted during the process 🙂