Dana Meeting House Associations friends have long been aware of the need for repair the Meeting House’s ceiling. This specialized restoration of the cracked and peeling ceiling of the otherwise well-preserved Meeting House was suspended in 2021 due to COVID restrictions and availability of the contractor. At this time, the target repair period is for Fall of 2022 after the season of anticipated public programs is complete. Fundraising is continuing in order to assure adequate funds for the work.
The contractor is JLT Painting, of Alexandria. He was chosen by the Board of Directors through interviews from a list of contractors provided by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, a non-profit organization which offers information to “save and revitalize our irreplaceable historic landmarks and preserve our distinctive community character. “
One of the trickiest aspects of the restoration is to make sure that the beautiful hand crafted wood work on the box pews—also knows as “sheep pens-”will not be harmed during the construction work. The floor will be covered with RamBoard—a type of floor covering that will provide protection to the wood and also allow the contractor to install scaffolding.
Extra care will be taken to cover the non-moveable structures and fixtures to protect them and enable the use of scaffolding. This staging will be set up in order to work on the ceiling, plaster the lath and set joint compound in areas that require that.
The loose plaster that is still in place will be secured using plastic washers. Holes will be drilled next to washers, filled with construction adhesive, then washers will be removed—all in an