Interior Restoration

OSI-Sri Lanka (Wattegama)

January-June 2008

Thanks to the generosity of Reinier Evers at Trendwatching.com, OSI has accomplished major restoration of all interior rooms of the Wattegama home. The home is 140 years old, and the interior rooms had not been painted in many years. Existing paint was dark and dirty, and repainting was impossible due to the ancient plaster crumbling from the walls in every room.

Mr. Evers has generously funded complete restoration of the home interior rooms, consisting of 5 large sleeping rooms and a common room. The result, coupled with our recent refurnishing of the rooms, is a much happier, warmer, more comfortable home environment for the resident children. The impact on their pride and happiness level is already evident! Thank you so much Reinier!

Project Cost: US $4097
Donors: Reinier Evers (Trendwatching.com)

The Project

Since the home is 140 years old, most of the plaster was cracking and required complete removal. Behind the plaster were ancient walls of rock, rubble, and brick, held together in many places by mud masonry. The masonry required substantial reconstruction in many places, after which new plaster was applied.

Removal of old plaster, repair of masonry

New plaster

Finally, the walls were painted two-tone peach, the lower half painted in a darker washable enamel to withstand wear and tear. The ceilings were also painted flat white, and windows, doors, and sills were painted with heavy-duty gloss white enamel. Finally, furnishings were moved into the room and arranged in a fashion to make the rooms multi-purpose and comfortable.