Facade Work at 109 W. Broad
Mark and Odette Thomas live in Floyd, Virginia but Mark's work with Gilmore Environmental brought him to Blackstone where he spent many weekends bunking upstairs above the office. The couple took a liking to what Francis Gilmore had done with his building as well as what was going on in Blackstone and decided to purchase the building next door which used to be Winn's Saw Shop and Sharrer's Market long before that. They decided to forego the Block grant, preferring rather to do their own work on their own time and at their own expense. The pictures below show the facade work they did. The couple is also completely gutting and renovating the interior with the help of their two sons who are also talented musicians.
The metal facade was a rusty mess! The first work was done around the door.
Next, Odette paints the area around the transom windows and above the entry door.
The are below the metal is now complete. Next came sandblasting to remove rust and then painting.
Mark poses for a moment before getting down to business putting a fresh coat of paint on the cornice.
The Thomases worked from 5pm-5am several days in order to beat the heat and get the job done before they had to return the rented scissor lift. Now that's determination and dedication! Odette painstakingly sponges on a faux finish. This process had to be repeated several times to achieve the affect that she was going for.
Odette puts the finishing touches on the facade and then put some special touches on the wood framing and put it around the windows as well as opening up the window that was boarded up and voila, the facade is 99% done! There will be a stained glass going in above the entry door later.