The Family Tree Restaurant

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED:

The Family Tree restaurant is a local family-owned Greek and American style restaurant. The interior walls and color scheme was nice but dated and dull. The interior of the restaurant had not been changed or repainted in at least the last 40 years. The walls were actually covered in a heavy-duty vinyl wallpaper that had faded to a dingy off-white, and all the wooden trim and chair rail was coated in clear polyurethane. The owners of The Family Tree restaurant wanted to see if they could take advantage of the mandatory shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic and give the inside a facelift.

PROJECT INVOLVEMENT:

In the Men’s Room, Women’s Room, Dining Rooms, and hostess stand/ waiting area we removed the vinyl covering from the walls, soffits and ceilings. Then we completed the plasterwork and skim coated every wall. After the repairs we complete and the walls were smooth again we primed the walls with a tinted oil-based primer that matched the color of the topcoat. In the Dining Rooms and hostess stand/ waiting area we painting the walls to full coverage in Sherwin Williams Satin Duration Home in SW 7005 Pure White. The walls in both bathrooms above the tile were primed as well with a tinted oil-based primer and then painted to full coverage in Sherwin Williams Satin Duration Home in SW 9165 Gossamer Veil. The ceiling area around the large skylight was also primed with the same tinted product and painted to full coverage in Sherwin Williams Satin Duration in SW 9055 Billowy Breeze.

In the two bathrooms the stalls, cabinets under the sinks, and wall tile that goes up to about halfway up the wall was first primed with Sherwin Williams Pre-tac primer and then painted to full coverage in Sherwin Williams Pro Industrial Water-based catalyzed epoxy in a gloss finish in SW 9177 Salty Dog.

The metal door frames, natural wood doors on the side that faces the dining rooms, natural wood baseboards, chair rails, and wooden cabinets throughout the restaurant were also primed first with Sherwin Williams Extreme Bonding primer. Then painted to full coverage in Sherwin Williams Pro Industrial Water-based catalyzed epoxy in a gloss finish in SW 9177 Salty Dog.

We also removed and disposed of the natural wood shoe molding and replaced any of the drywall that was water damaged.

CHALLENGES, EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES:

One special challenge was that after the vinyl wall covering was removed every wall needed a full skim coat from top to bottom. We also had to make sure that we were complying with all of the safety requirements due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This involved wearing masks, keep a distance of 6 feet of each other, and washing hands often and for at least 20 seconds at a time.

A lot of different techniques and skills were utilized during the project. Skim coating to every wall after vinyl wall covering was removed. Drywall repairs and replacement due to previous water damage. Using a two-part epoxy system on most of the natural wood trim and doors and on the wall tile in both bathrooms.

FINAL RESULT:

The project started in the middle of May 2020 and was completed in about 3 weeks after our county entered Phase 1 of reopening. The restaurant was closed to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This made it easy to complete the job in a timely manner and to practice social distancing and to take other precautions necessary to protect everyone’s health during the project.

Photos can be seen below of how the restaurant looked before and after the team got to work.