Plaster mouldings restored at The Daughters of the War of 1812,  Washington, DC

Details on how we restored the ornamental plaster in this museum in Washington, DC.

Mouldings are straight and restoed right in Washington, DC. Mold template, also called a running mold
Mouldings are straight. Inside is tooled with a miter rod. Mold template, also called a running mold is used to run the molding in place.
Badly water damaged moulding Section is removed to make a template
Badly water damaged moulding had been patched numerous times. Section is removed to make a template.
We got the section off in two pieces. Rebuilding DC.
We got the section off in two pieces. I got an aluminum sign to make templates out of from the scrap metal yard on Kenilworth Avenue. Rebuilding DC seemed appropriate for this project.
Metal is filed and fitted It took me 12 hours to make this template
Metal is filed and fitted by filing a little at a time. I made the metal in 3 pieces and screwed it to a wood back up. It took me 12 hours to make this template.
Mouldings and sagging area of ceiling torn out Ceiling is filled with metal lath and moulding plaster and lime
Mouldings and sagging area of ceiling torn out. Ceiling is filled with metal lath and moulding plaster and lime. Ceiling is straightened with a rod. The ceiling must be dead straight at the moulding for all this to work.
Template is screwed to a bottom piece, or a sled Straight lumber is screwed to the wall for the sled to ride on
Template is screwed to a bottom piece, or a sled, and a brace is attached. After putting up metal lath, moulding is filled a little at a time and run with the template. Straight lumber is screwed to the wall for the sled to ride on.
moulding detail a special tool is used
A close up showing the moulding detail. The gap between the mouldings is filled and tooled. Here, a special tool is used to fill the round members.
miters are tooled inThe inside corners, or miters, are tooled in with rods called mitering rods.