Randy Gauthier has tackled a number of large and challenging projects in his painting career.
But few can compare to what he has encountered at Providence Farm, where Gauthier and his seven-man crew are putting a fresh face on the century old main building.
“We spent days and days on prepping and hours on painting,” a smiling Gauthier says of the process of restoring the iconic white building that is home to the administration offices and is the site of much of the programming that takes place at Providence Farm.
“Fortunately, the weather has been agreeable and we’ve lost only one day,” he says. “April was great.”
Gauthier, owner of Great Dane Painting, a Cowichan Valley company that has been around since 2008, has pulled out all the tools in his bag of tricks in order to do the best possible job on a building that hasn’t seen a decent paint job for many years and required significant repairs in some areas before paint could be applied.
“We’ve used battery-powered sanders and those cordless tools have been essential. I can’t tell you how much sandpaper we’ve gone through.”
Gauthier has had a rented boom lift on site for several days and it has proven to be an essential piece of equipment when long extension ladders couldn’t do the trick.
With the Providence Farm job nearing completion, Gauthier says he’s more than pleased with the results and he’s anxious to take on similar large contracts.
“This is just the first of many more, I hope,” he says.
Providence Farm has been in the process of renovating the massive building that greets visitors when they come up the driveway for the last couple of years.
Grants, including $125,000 from the province’s Community Gaming Grants Program and money from the CVRD’s grant-in-aid fund have helped move the renovation efforts along.
The building’s 100th anniversary will be in 2021.
