- Furniture, Flooring & Home Protection
- Servicing Melbourne
- 20 Year Workmanship Warranty
FEATURED PROJECT
The profile in this 100-plus-year-old home was obsolete. Restoring it meant preserving a sample, creating a new mould and manufacturing 20 metres of matching cornice.
| Project Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Property | 100+ year old period home |
| Location | Ascot Vale, Melbourne |
| Damage | Water-damaged decorative cornice |
| Quantity | Approximately 20 linear metres |
| Specialist | Vision, new mould creation and cornice manufacturing |
| Lead Time | Six weeks from sample collection to installation |
| Alleviate’s Scope | Profile matching, installation, preparation and painting |
Water damage affected approximately 20 linear metres of decorative cornice in this Ascot Vale period home. The original profile was obsolete, meaning an off-the-shelf replacement would not preserve the room’s existing detail.
The damage could be repaired. The profile, however, could not simply be replaced.
The home is more than 100 years old, and its decorative plasterwork is an important part of the room’s character. Installing the closest modern profile beside the retained cornice would have created visible differences in projection, pattern and spacing.
Alleviate carefully removed and retained a usable sample of the original cornice. We searched for the original manufacturer and an existing matching profile, but neither could be located. The cornice therefore needed to be reproduced specifically for the home.
The retained sample gave Vision the exact profile required to reproduce the obsolete cornice.
Alleviate carefully removed a suitable section while protecting the profile needed for reproduction.
The original manufacturer and an existing matching mould could not be found.
Vision used the retained sample to recreate the original profile and manufacture approximately 20 linear metres of new plaster cornice.
The lead time included creating the mould, manufacturing the required lengths and allowing the plaster to cure before installation.
Alleviate installed the new cornice, prepared the joins and painted the completed work so it integrated with the original room.
“The six-week timeframe was not a delay in plastering. It was the time required to properly reproduce an obsolete detail, including mould creation, manufacturing and curing, before installation and painting could begin.”
From providing the sample to installing the new cornice, the process took approximately six weeks. This timeframe protected the architectural character of the room and avoided introducing an obviously different modern profile into a century-old interior.
It also gave the insurer and homeowner one complete outcome. Alleviate managed the specialist matching process, installed approximately 20 linear metres of replacement cornice, prepared the finished surfaces and completed the painting.
The reproduced cornice was installed and painted to blend with the home’s original decorative plasterwork.
Preserve a sample before damaged decorative plaster is discarded.
When an original profile is obsolete, a sound sample may be the only reliable reference available to reproduce it. For insurance and renovation projects, retain the best section as early as possible and allow sufficient time for mould creation, manufacturing and curing before confirming an installation date.
