This exterior painting job in Port Orange was on the old Florida East Coast Railway freight depot at Depot Park. It is the board and batten building with "FEC BLDG #235, 1894" on the gable sign. Today it is bright yellow with white brackets, trim and fascia, and those curved brackets hold up a long platform overhang. There are a lot of them.

Most of what we paint is houses and businesses around Daytona Beach. A wood building that has stood since 1894 asks for more patience than either. The finished photos come first below. After them are a few from while the crew was on site, each one labeled.

Location: Depot Park, Port Orange, FL
Property: Historic wood freight depot, built 1894
Surfaces: Board and batten siding, platform overhang, brackets, trim and fascia
Work shown: Finished and in progress

Finished Photos

Both of these show the depot after the job was done.

The 1894 Port Orange freight depot at Depot Park after exterior painting, with yellow board and batten siding, white trim and a row of white curved brackets under the platform roof — Finished Yellow siding with white brackets and trim, seen from the park lawn.

Gable end of the finished Port Orange depot, painted yellow with white fascia, under the Port Orange and FEC 1894 building signs — Finished The gable end under the Port Orange and FEC signs.

During the Job

These were taken while the work was underway. Drop cloths, ladders and hoses are still out.

Color Masters crew member walking the depot platform during the job, carrying a paint pail past the yellow wall and a white trimmed freight door — In progress One of our crew on the platform mid job.

Color Masters Painting truck parked at Depot Park during the job, with a gas powered airless paint sprayer and blue hose in the bed — On site Our truck at the depot with the airless sprayer in the bed.

How Do You Paint a Wood Building From 1894?

Slowly, and with more prep than paint. On old wood siding, a new coat is only as good as the layers under it.

A building this old has been painted, weathered and painted again more times than anyone kept track of, so every board has its own history. The first pass is a close look at the whole skin. Loose and peeling paint gets scraped back to a sound edge. Soft spots in the wood get found before anyone paints over them, and open joints where the battens meet the boards get caulked so rain stops working in behind them. Bare wood gets primer.

Old paint needs care of its own. On anything painted before 1978, assume there is lead in the lower layers until a test says otherwise, because that changes how the old coating can be scraped and sanded. None of this shows up in a finished photo. It is still most of the job, and the same steps apply to an older wood house. Our exterior painting in Daytona Beach page goes through them for homes.

Why Spray the Overhang Brackets Instead of Brushing Them?

Because there is too much edge. The platform roof sits on a long row of curved brackets, and each one has two faces, an inside curve, and the rafter it meets.

In the first of the during photos, one of our painters is up a stepladder working the underside with an airless sprayer. The blue hose runs back along the platform to the rig on the truck. Spraying lays an even coat into corners and end grain, which is where a brush leaves thin spots and drips. Brushing every one of those surfaces by hand would add days. The tradeoff is overspray. That is why the whole deck is under drop cloths. White against yellow is the detail people notice from the road, too, so where the two colors meet the line has to be clean.

Spraying around people takes planning as well. If you own a business that has to stay open while the work happens, look at how we handled the Port Orange auto shop roof repaint a few miles away.

What Should You Ask a Painter Before Work on a Public or Historic Building?

Ask how they will keep the site safe and open. A park building has visitors, and people wander over to see what is going on. You can spot a few in the background of the overhang photo.

Paperwork comes next. Ask for a written scope that lists each surface and the prep it gets, and a certificate of insurance before anyone sets up a ladder. We carry $3,000,000 in general liability coverage, and the certificate goes out with the bid. Last, find out who has a say over color. The Port Orange depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, and the city says its renovation was funded in part by Volusia County's ECHO grant program. Money like that can come with rules about materials and colors. Get that answer before the bid, not halfway through the job.

We handle board, city and property manager jobs through our commercial painting in Daytona Beach service. Call Color Masters Painting and Robert will walk the building with you.

Have an Older Building That Needs Paint?

We price older and public buildings in writing, with the prep spelled out. Call Robert or send a request and we will come take a look.

(386) 631-6056 Request an estimate

Historic Depot Exterior Painting in Port Orange