Frieden’s United Church of Christ located in Sumneytown, PA was built in 1858 by German settlers who named it after the German word for ‘peace.’
This community has gathered inside this building for over 160 years, preserving rich traditions. When they reached out to us about restoring the building, we understood right away that this project was special.
Restoring the Exterior
We Started on The Outside
The exterior of this building is stunning.
We started by stripping the coating down to the bare surface and performed plaster repairs throughout.
We reglazed all of the windows and carefully restored the wood framing surrounding every stained glass window.
To finish off, we used premium primer and carefully applied paint coatings selected to protect the building for years to come.
We wanted to make sure this would last for a long time. Check out our video documenting our process!
The church was thrilled with the results.
And not long after, they called us back!
Restoring the Interior
They Asked Us to Come Inside
When the Frieden’s community reached back out to us about restoring the interior sanctuary, we replied with an enthusiastic yes!!
The inside was a sanctuary full of beauty, in need of love.
More than 160 years of wear & tear had taken its toll on the plaster walls and ceilings, with cracks throughout.
Some of the plaster had begun to fail in ways that required some real repairs.
We worked closely & diligently with church leadership through those moments, talking through options honestly and making sure every choice made was about preserving this building for the next generation of their congregation.
Over the course of several weeks, our crew spent countless hours inside that sanctuary. The church documented the process on their own Facebook page.
“The Davis Painting crew has been incredibly busy and focused on the restoration work in our sanctuary. They have put over 400 hours into the effort to date. Check out the bright white of the walls and the woodwork. The sanctuary is already brighter and cleaner.”
-Friedens United Church of Christ
The Careful Restoration, Week by Week
Before a single brush touched a wall, we made sure to move the pews out of the sanctuary to keep them protected.
Everything that could not be moved was covered completely with plastic, and we protected the floors throughout the entire project.
Once we had everything protected, we focused on the plaster.
We scraped back the walls and ceilings to understand what materials we were actually working with, ensured the necessary repairs, and addressed every crack with care.
The ceiling features custom plaster crown-molding that had developed a significant crack over time.
Repairing it without losing the original detail took patience but we made sure to get it right.
We sanded the ceilings, walls, and trim throughout the sanctuary, ran air purifiers to keep the air and space clean, and applied oil primer to the ceilings before carefully finishing every surface with two coats of premium paint.
The heaters were painted with a Direct-to-Metal finish built to handle the heat.
The upstairs benches were sanded, primed, and restored back to their original design.
Every stained glass window in that building got individual attention.
We worked around each one carefully, making sure the frames and surrounding woodwork were treated with the same precision as everything else.
And then there was the front of the sanctuary.
The mural, the lettering on the altar, and the designs on the pulpit all feature a gold inlay that is original to the building.
To restore them properly, we used a specialty paint that contains real gold!
Watching that detail come back to life after all those years was one of the highlights of the entire project.
What This Restorations Meant to Us
When you walk into a building that has served a community for over 160 years, you feel it.
The sanctuary at Frieden’s United Church of Christ is restored. The walls are bright and clean, the crown molding is intact, the gold inlay is gleaming.
The building is ready for another generation of worship.
The congregation was thrilled with the finished result, and we were honored to have been the team they trusted to do it. This is the kind of project that reminds us why we do what we do!
For the full walkthrough of the completed project, check out our video series on youtube.
To see more of our church and historical restoration work, visit our church gallery.
Have a church or historic building that needs to be restored?
Call Davis Painting.
We will take care of it with the care, precision, and detail it deserves.
