Painting kitchen cabinets is a common repaint homeowners diy. Buying new cabinets can be quite expensive so the alternative is to paint them. Here are professional painting tips for someone who wants to tackle this type of project. Typically repainting your cabinets will take about a week when all is said and done with dry times.
Right now we are on a kitchen remodel in Fabius NY where we are refacing the cabinets with paint. Not all paints are created equal so knowing what to buy will save you from applying the wrong product. Some people think slapping latex wall paint with a sheen on there does the job, it doesn't. Cabinet resurfacing paint is made up of urethane-alkyd-acrylic components that provide a superior, hard, scratch free surface when applied correctly to specifications. An example of improper application is using a latex primer and latex paint. What will happen immediately is the primer will be a soft coat that provides poor adhesion and easily scrapes off with your finger nail. This type of coating will wear out within the first year leaving you with dingy cabinets and a waste of time. I will get back to the product side of it later in this blog. So you're ready to begin now what?
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1. Start by removing the cabinet doors and hardware. The best practice is to keep your door hardware with its original door so that everything fits back together. Or you may opt to update the pulls and hardware. If this is the case the best thing to do is bring your old hinge to the store with you and compare it with what you are considering. Pulls or the part you pull on to open it are standard for most cabinets. In some cases you may have to wood putty fill screw holes to accommodate your new hardware. Labeling and separating them will keep things organized and make reinstalling go smoother in the end.
2. Hand clean the cabinets with soap and water to remove grease and grime.
3. Sand the cabinets. Depending on the finish on your cabinets you will need to use anywhere from 120-200 grit to scuff the surfaces and remove the gloss finish. This is a critical step that must be done thoroughly so that when you apply your primer it sticks. If you have ever painted a surface and not sanded you may have already seen this play out, you'll be able to rub the paint off dried.
3. Clean everything you sanded with a shop vac so that all the dust is removed. Next go back over all cabinet surfaces with a wet sponge or rag and remove fine dust. Cleaning all the dust off and out of the cabinets will keep your work area clean and help you avoid dirt and dust in your applications.
4. Priming: Depending on the level of the finish you would like to achieve will determine how you choose to apply your primer. The choice's range from a brush to fine roller to spraying. Brushing on the primer often leaves brush strokes which means more prep work between coats. For your typical oak cabinet with a polyurethane finish you will need three coats of primer. Laying the primer on thick is not recommended. To achieve optimal results you will need to apply many thin coats until you can no longer see the original wood colors. By doing it correctly you will save your self from the paint pooling in areas, sagging or drips. This will also cut down on in between sanding time and mess.
5. Once the wood is covered with primer you will need to sand again to remove orange peel finish, brush strokes, imperfections. This time 180-200 grit will do the trick. The idea is to get the surface as smooth as possible before you apply the finish coats. Once again thoroughly vacuum and wipe down all surfaces same as before.
6. Finish coats: You are now ready to begin applying your finish paint. In most cases using a fine nap cabinet roller will work best. This is a roller designed specifically to apply this paint because once you've rolled it on it leaves little to no application marks once it has leveled out and set up. There is a technique used for the best results when applying the finish coats. Once you've loaded up your roller you want to roll it on till you no longer can here the paint spreading. This may take you a little while to realize what you are listening for but once you get it it will provide that mirror like showroom finish.
7. Install cabinet hardware and pulls and rehang.
These are a few tried and true practices that will ensure you get the high quality finish you are looking for on your kitchen cabinets resurfacing. Keep in mind these are standard practices for the best results in this application. Depending on your level of expertise and patience results will vary. Like they say you can't rush a good thing and in this case it holds very true. Dry times will vary for products so make sure you read carefully what they are and the conditions that must be met to allow the product to work correctly. None of the steps above can be short cut or left out without a consequence. So when you go and spend a few hundred dollars to reface cabinets make sure you follow these steps and the product specifications so that you don't waste your time and money. When you are shopping for primer and paint make sure you buy a alkyd urethane primer and acrylic urethane finish paint. The components in these type of products will outlast an enamel or latex paint for decades. Good luck and happy trails with your project!
Bill Donigan
Donigan Painting
224 Ross Park
Syracuse NY 13208
http://doniganpainting.webstarts.com/
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