The floors in the choir and area around the altar of the church are made of large slabs of limestone. They are original to the building. From a distance they appear to be a neutral gray or tan color, but like all natural materials, there are gradations, inconsistencies and surprises in their color.
Before the restoration work was done on the floor it was hard to tell what the stone really looked like. It was obscured by decades of accumulated smoke residue, dirt and spots of spilled candle wax. Linoleum had been applied over the stone in the early 20th century, for reasons unknown, but ideas about historic preservation were different then. About 40 years ago a carpet runner was installed in the nave from the back wall through the choir. It was anchored into the stone floor with nails.
When the linoleum was removed about 20 years ago areas of the underlying stone that were chipped in the process. The glue that had been used to apply the floor covering left a residue on the stone. The carpet runner was removed in order to access the underlying stone, exposing the nail holes. Once the floor was leveled, the masons went to work patching holes, chipes and gouges in the stone.
When the patching material dried, the entire area was cleaned with water.
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