This week we dig deep into refinishing kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. If your budget is too tight to replace cabinets, know that refinishing them can be about 25% to 30% less expensive. That alone caught our attention.
To help us we turned to Rosie Certified Partner Mike Stutte of Smith Painting and Services. Mike walks us through details of the prep work, painting, staining and the products they use.
Mike has been refinishing cabinets for a couple of decades and loves to introduce homeowners to the advantages of painting their home’s cabinets. His visit starts with educating them about the cost of refinishing cabinets. It is costs much less to refresh the kitchen cabinets with fresh paint than it is to remodel the whole kitchen.
The counter tops are a big part of the decision-making process. It is very hard to remove stone countertops without breaking them. Smith Painting is not opposed to trying to remove them, but they won’t try to remove them unless the homeowner understands that they run the risk of breaking the stone and are willing to spend the money to replace them.
Establishing a budget is a great way to choose what is right for you. Whether you replace or refinish you should know the cost before you commit.
The steps to a job well done include preparation and the right process using the right products.
Preparation
As with most projects around our home, proper preparation is fundamental. Cabinets are kept on site to avoid both the hassle of transportation and the potential damage that might occur in transit.
- The process begins with choosing a room in the home that can be set up as the spray booth. Typically the garage wins this honor. Having a spray booth protects the home and provides for a more consistent finish on the cabinets.
- Cabinet doors and hardware are removed, and each piece is marked for accurate reassembly.
- Cabinets are removed and clearly marked as to where they go. Base cabinets may remain in place if the countertops are to remain.
- Surfaces are cleaned sand or apply a liquid sandpaper to the surface. This breaks down the existing finish and allows the new finish to better adhere.
- Blemishes, dings, and wear spots are repaired.
Many homeowners have older wood, usually oak, stained cabinets and are wanting to paint over them. Wood cabinets may require an additional effort to match the wood grain.
The process
There are two basic refinishing processes, painting or staining. The prep work for both is essentially the same as we talked about above. The steps from here are different for each.
Painting
Affording you a splash of color or colors, painting has a limitless palate to choose from.
There is a preparation difference for repairs. Using a quality filler such as caulk that can be painted over.
- Start with a quality primer. Every surface will need to be primed. Primer can be tinted to match your chosen color scheme. This makes for better product coverage. If you are refinishing wood-stained cabinets, this process is critical, and it may require more than one coat of primer.
- Once the primer has dried, typically takes about 45 minutes, a light sanding of all surfaces is needed to improve adherence of subsequent coats.
- A minimum of two coats is standard. If the cabinets are wood it may need an extra
- coat to prevent old stain yellowing from bleeding through.
Staining
Re-staining wood cabinets is tricky. Mike tells us that going from dark to light finish is probably not going to happen. He informs clients that more likely any re-stain will be darker.
Preparing stained wood for re-staining is more labor intensive than for a painted cabinet as it requires more sanding.
- Repairing any damage to the cabinet such as dings or gouges, will require using a wood filler that will take a stain finish. Again, a bit more sanding.
- Color matches are difficult due to the varying nature of wood products. Wood graining will take stain colors differently.
- Before work really begins, creating a test piece is standard. This piece will show what color and depth the re-finished surface will be. A client should insist on signing off on this step. Once agreed to, the formula used to create the color will be used on the entire project.
- The final coat is a clear lacquer finish to protect the wood.
Products
It is important to be patient and pay attention to detail, says Mike, even down to the type of products used.
Generally, Mike likes to keep products such as primers and finish paint of the same brand. Here are some of the brands Mike uses.
- PPG Breakthrough. This paint product can be used for both interior and exterior applications. This is a low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds, the smelly stuff in paints), paint. When used on interior applications such as cabinets, a separate primer is not needed.
- Dunn Edwards, Deco Glo used in combination with Dunn Edwards Deco primer is designed specifically for interior woodwork and cabinets. This product is a urethane modified acrylic paint that has very low VOC’s.
- Sherwin Williams product, Gallery in conjunction with Sherwin Williams Gallery Waterborne Primer, is primarily designed for spray application. It dries very quickly, After 35 to 45 minutes it can be sanded and recoated.
When asked if there is any magic formula to deciding which product to use Mike said not really. The decision is made based on the condition of the cabinets they are painting and work conditions. They are all excellent products.
If you like the way your kitchen and/or bathroom cabinetry is laid out and they are operating well, and simply want to change the décor, refinishing them with paint or stain may be the best route to take for you and your pocketbook.
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