Universal Floors Inc. recently worked inside the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., as part of the preparations for the funeral of former United States President Jimmy Carter. The 39th president passed away on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100.
Sprigg Lynn, a longtime National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) member, says that Universal Floors was honored to handle the project. The core area on which the team worked is the entrance to the cathedral’s main altar, which features a wooden floor adorned with the Jerusalem Cross. It will be a focal point during the funeral.
“We had to utilize all of our expertise in recreating grain and filling and doing everything short of sanding it down to raw wood,” explains Lynn. “It was pretty beat up and they didn’t have time to do a lot. We only had a couple of days to get in there and get it done.”
In addition to the filling and repairs, they were tasked with touching up the wooden altars. Lynn notes that a team of four completed all of the incredibly detailed work in about 48 hours.
“This is probably the most picturesque and humbling setting that we have worked in because it’s such a sacred place,” says Lynn. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
The National Cathedral will host the State Funeral for President Carter on Thursday, January 9, at 10:00 a.m. EST. The funeral service may be viewed here and will be carried live by all major television networks.
According to the National Cathedral’s website, construction of the church began in 1907 and ended exactly 83 years after it began in 1990. The site has also hosted the State Funerals for Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush.
The floors at the cathedral looked so good, I just had to look up some history on them and saw you had helped prepare for the funeral. Great job to those that built the flooring on the altar and for your reconditioning. It didn’t go unnoticed.