Historic and antique homes speak of proportion, scale and form. At Kelley Painting Services we specialize in historic home restoration and painting that restores the original, inherent character and beauty in these important pieces of Southern history.
We don’t just paint surfaces; we care for and restore them. From lathe, horsehair plaster and calcimine ceilings, to ship lap clapboards and scalloped shingles, the interior and exterior surfaces of historic homes have a distinct composition and coating history. Our understanding of Florida’s architectural history, of historic building materials and of paint failure informs the preparation we carry out along with the type of appropriate materials we used to repair and restore historic homes. From plaster buttons to paint stripping and to rotted wood repair using epoxy consolidants and fillers, our home painters are trained problem solvers.
Older Paint
A common issue with older interiors is the brittleness of the paint. Since it is prone to easy chipping, we use a variety of lead-safe methods to remove delaminating layers. On natural finishes, especially handrails and newel post caps, often a thorough cleaning with very fine steel wool is all that is needed. Striping multiple layers of old paint can be a challenge so we use safe effective products to give the best surface after the paint is removed.
Fire & Water Restoration
Our team specializes in fire, smoke and water damage to historic properties. On this page is an example of a historic house that we were tasked with restoring to as close to original as possible after extensive damage from fire and the subsequent water damage caused when the fire department put out the fire.
The Historic Mote-Morris House, built in 1892, and one of only a few original remaining residences in Leesburg, suffered severe fire damage in 2018. With its Victorian architecture, two-story bays and four-story turrets, this home had had very minor modifications in its 102 years. However, as a result of this unfortunate occurrence, there was a considerable amount of damage done to the building, both structurally and cosmetic.
The Mote-Morris House is a historic house in Leesburg, Florida, United States. It was located at 1021 West Main Street. On December 27, 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was moved to 1195 West Magnolia Street on September 1, 1990.