Weather Dependent
When it comes to installing an exterior mosaic, the phrase weather dependent is tossed around at every scheduling discussion. The Four Evangelists installation was no exception. Fortunately, it was a matter of coordinating just two people – myself and my very busy safety and installation assistant. This two-day installation was scheduled and rescheduled in June of 2023 in Cumming, GA, a suburb north of Atlanta.
On Monday, June 12th, we were able to begin. The site has four niches in a brick wall, three on one side of a bell tower and one on the other. Our access was an extremely convenient set of rolling stairs that a very kind (but hard of hearing) facilities man rolled into position for us. This first day we were adhering the mosaic to the wall with thinset and tarping until we could grout. It was just about the perfect weather – 70 degrees and partly cloudy. As soon as the four mosaics were up, tarped and we had made our way down, the heavens opened and the rain poured down. I like to think Fr. Matthew arranged for the perfect timing that day!
On Tuesday, we returned to grout and it was another 70 degree day with low humidity. We did get stuck for a little while on one side of the bell tower when our stairs were wheeled away accidentally. The facilities man didn’t realize we were up there! No harm done and we were forced to take a little break on the roof (with a pretty view) while we waited for the stairs to be wheeled back. As we were working on the final three, lots of visitors kept climbing the steps to check it out until it felt like a party up on the roof! It ended up taking two people two half-days to install four mosaics that took me about six months to put together and the weather was perfect!
Skim Coat Applied
The heavens opened up and the rain poured down
Installation Party
