The Eiffel Tower is scheduled to be repainted in October, a labor-intensive project that will take three years and 60 tons of paint to finish. The current paint job was done as a temporary measure after the original color was found to be deteriorating due to weather conditions. When it was first built in 1889 it was painted red, white, and blue, the standard colors for French buildings at the time. However, over time this color has been found to be fading due to rain and wind causing iron oxide to scrape off the tower. So in 1994 it was repainted black with silver stars where the original color used to be. The new color scheme was chosen by popular vote among several other proposals such as yellow, green, and orange. The black and silver color combination is said to be a nice compromise between modern and traditional styles. In addition, each floor of the tower will now have a different color so visitors can see exactly how much paint is on their favorite piece of architecture. The project will cost about $1.5 million and will not affect its structural integrity. It is estimated that the paint job will last around seven years before it needs to be refreshed.