Installing the New Gallery Wall Panels

by Juanita Canzoneri

Our building at 102 Cañon Ave., Manitou Springs, CO is over 100 years old. It was originally a 2-story stone and brick building. At some point a back area was added to the building. This area is cantilevered over Fountain Creek.

We have walls of varying materials--stone, drywall, and plaster/lathe--with varying degrees of bump out, condition, and other issues. So there were a lot of furring strips that needed to be installed to accommodate the changes we were making. 

In this  first photo John is installing the last of the furring strips in the main store area. 













This photo shows one of the first areas we attacked.  In several areas this degree of furring was not quite as necessary because we had a more reasonable base layer that was already well attached to the structure.

For this wall we had to attach furring strips on a plaster and lathe. There used to be a series of slanted walls built out from the base wall. This was the first thing we removed in this renovation.





To install the gallery wall panels, as you see John and Juergen doing here, the panel is held in place with brute force and then attached to the furring strips or other underlying structure with pin nails. For this we used a nail gun and air compressor. (See our earlier  blog post on how to construct gallery wall panels.)

You'll see it between John's legs there. (John's on the right with the hat.)


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In some areas furring strips were put in place, not to hold the wall panels, but rather a bead board wainscoting and trim that will finish off the walls.


Stay tuned for more photos and updates. We're getting new carpet installed as I write this.
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