Decorative molding installation in a 19th Century New York Tenement

 

When some ancient gas pipes were torn out of an 1863 apartment building in New York City, much of the over-door plaster came with them.

 

Dreadfully ugly, and a fire hazard as well. Drafts behind these old plaster walls would drive a fire straight up though the whole structure.

In many cases, a simple plaster fix was not enough. The area was too uneven or too funky to make a clean job of it. My solution was to build wide moldings, much like they did in 1863, to cover the damage.

Here is one of my grand old molding creations in progress. The dentil pieces would each be individually glued and nailed to the base board, and the crown as well.

  Now that looks a lot better! And, it reflects the historic origins of the structure. 

BTW, by making the length of composite molding a solid piece with a sturdy wood base, the molding could be fastened at any point along the over-door area, right into the available studs.

When the job was all done, visitors to the building presumed that the interior molding work was original.

       Oh well, it still looks quite handsome.