House Of The Temple, Bronze Doors

We were contracted by the Scottish Rite for Freemasonry to perform bronze conservation treatment and bronze refinishing on the cast bronze night doors, bronze interior vestibule and ceiling panels, and bronze and glass entrance door at the House of the Temple Building in Washington, DC.

The cast bronze door had oxidized to a gray-black patina with areas of corrosion and coating loss. The doors were thought to have been originally a medium-brown patina, which would generally match the patina scheme found on the inner vestibule panels and ceiling panel.

Treatment began on the exterior face of the cast bronze night door and transom grille and included using a micro-abrasive cleaning system to remove existing coatings and corrosion, a full repatination of the exterior face of the door and grille using a sequence of cold patina chemical solutions, and several applications of a high-performance outdoor grade lacquer and a sacrificial application of a cold paste wax.

The inner vestibule and ceiling panels were gently cleaned with an alcohol and water solution and recoated with a lacquer application. The glass and bronze entrance doors were cleaned to remove all coatings and corrosion, polished with nylon abrasive pads, and coated with a high performance grade outdoor lacquer.