The House Painters painted the interior of a historic Takapuna home with six fireplaces. For around 100 years they have been the warm centre of the house and some of its best architectural detail. Time had worn all six. Five needed a repaint. The sixth needed a full fireplace restoration, covered step by step below, alongside a newly installed fireplace that brings it up to date for modern use.
For more of our work in this suburb, see painting one of the oldest homes in Takapuna and our Takapuna house painting page.
The short answer
How was this 100-year-old fireplace restored?
Restoring this 100-year-old Takapuna fireplace took three stages. We protected the restored brick and new fireplace, prepared the timber by hand and with dust-extracted sanders, then built up the varnish coat by coat. We kept the character marks and didn’t sand them out.
Assessing the Fireplace
The fireplace showed a century of use. Scratches, dings and dents covered the timber, and dust sat in every recess.
We read those marks as the fireplace’s history, so the goal of this fireplace restoration was protection. We kept the character marks and prepared the surface so the family can keep adding to its story.
Protecting, Cleaning and Sanding
We started by protecting the restored brick and the newly installed fireplace. Then we prepared every timber surface, hand sanding the fine detail and using professional sanders with dust extraction on the flat faces.
The intricate detail got the same attention as the flat sections. Varnish shows any flaw left underneath, so a fireplace restoration is only as good as its preparation.
Move the slider to reveal before & after photos.
Fireplace Restoration: Re-Varnishing the Finish
The last stage of the fireplace restoration was the varnish. We applied it coat by coat to build depth and protection into the timber.
The photos and video below show the finished fireplace alongside the restored brick.
The House Painters is a Registered Master Painters member, and we take on interior timber work like this alongside our exterior painting. If you’re planning a fireplace restoration, mention it when you organise your free quote.