Ornamental Plaster & Repair

For the restoration of Carnegie Hall in 1985 we created all our moldings by hand. Usually, the architect or designer provides us with the specifications of the molding in a line drawing that includes sizes like drop and projection as well as the radius of the curves.

Then the outline of the molding is cut into a piece of sheet metal and fastened to a wood jig. Plaster is added to the bed while the metal jig is drawn across it. This is done multiple times until the metal template cuts the exact impression in the plaster.

Once dried, the finish molding is ready for install. The molding is installed with plaster, screws, and adhesive. All joints and screw holes are patched to make the molding seamless. The pictures below were taken during the restoration of Carnegie Hall.