Let me tell you about my experience with California finished cabinets. I'm in Ventura county and underwent a kitchen/home renovation 12 years ago. I used a small cabinet maker in the SF Valley with a good reputation. Perimeter cabs are maple painted off-white and island is stained cherry. After a few years the painted cabs showed a fair amount of wear, by the 5 year mark they looked terrible. From that point forward the finish deteriorated year by year, and I knew at some point they would need to be replaced, which would be when I convinced dh that it was a necessity. At 12 years old, the finish looks 112 years old, as in embarrassingly bad. To humor dh, I looked into repainting them, but was told it would need to be redone every 8-10 years at the minimum. Refacing was not an option unless we ordered pre- painted doors from out of state. At that point dh agreed it was time to replace them, which is what we are doing. I am thrilled that we are going with an out of state semi- custom cabinet company that uses a baked on catalyzed finish. I have the ability to do pretty much any customization that I want- size, color, etc. but it will cost us quite a bit more than the local cabinet guy we used last time. I will say that the stained island has held up better than the painted cabs. I'm not trying to be discouraging, but I am scared off of California finishes. Btw: we had a limited 5 year warranty that included hinge adjustments and a touch up paint kit. If I lived in another state, I would choose local custom, but not here.

There are finishes that can be used in the SCAQMD (south coast air quality district) of Southern California that are as good as or better than Catalyzed Conversion Varnish. UV and 2k poly being two of them. I haven't used CV for many years because yes, this state did put regulations on it that caused the forulations to be altered but that wasn't my reason. This is the nastiest tonic material to be around. Not only working with it but it off-gasses forever so when you have it in your house there are still issues with the toxicity. I started using Italian waterborne 2k poly about seven years ago and never looked back. It's harder to work with, it's more expensive, it's not readily available (I bring it in myself) but it's the best stuff I've found and we use it even in a commercial environment and it holds up really well. UV coating (ultraviolet cured) is used extensively in the flooring industry so even if you intend on walking on your cabinets you would be ok. That finish takes very expensive specialized equipment. I could have it done but don't ever have the need. Sorry to go on but this subject comes up all the time and people who aren't really qualified create the perception that we can't build great cabinets here in California. I've been building high-end custom cabinets for more than twenty five years here in LA so I do have some experience with it.

Back to the original questions. "hand finished on site"? With what? Why? Are you going for that look where you see brush strokes in the finish. It's done. I could name a few but it needs to be done well. As far as painted you would never what to paint over cherry that would be a waste of money. Most painted finishes are maple with MDF panel. I do it differently than that but depends on door style and general look you are going for. Espresso stain is done a lot over oak (rifted white oak in particular) but again depends on the look. Re: boxes birch is a little less that pre-finished maple but the big different is domestic vs imported (meaning China).

Just read the second post and wanted to clarify something about this so called "the baked" finish. Baking the finish, or force curing with heat which is what it actually is, has nothing to do with the durability of the finish. This is merely a production issue. The doors are put under hot infrared lights to dry faster so they can keep up with the volume. I've talked to many tech people at major coating companies and was always told has no effect on the finish and in fact it is better it is allowed to cure naturally and slower than to force dry. This is a separate issue than the formulation of the compliant CV. You can get a bad finish in any state. I'm sure there are many people with cabinets in other states that after 5, 10, or 15 years don't look so good.

There are plenty of great California built cabinets, but I do not believe the finish here is as durable as I can get elsewhere.

melis918

12 years ago we had the same products here as everyone else did so that is not the issue with your cabinets. A cabinet maker and a finisher are two different entities. Some can do both well. Only some. Your cabinets were most likely finished with nitrocellulose lacquer (regular lacquer finish) Catalyzed conversion varnish or CV has changed over the years here. California restricted the VOC's in it from 720 then to 550 and now down to 275. At that it is still a decent product and defiantly much better than NC lacquer. To me CV is old technology. Don't need to repeat what i said above but I've probably finished more cabinets then you. Also Ventura is not under the same AQMD restrictions and we can get different finishes there.

Not to hijack the thread, but briefly, jdesign, what would you recommend a homeowner use to DYI brush paint their own cabinets? Something that levels nice?

A lot of the trim in my house was painted with oil based satin Impervo, which I really liked, but that's no longer sold in my state.

Jdesign,

Thank you for the education. It's been hard to find info about finishes and California cabinets. Now I'll know better what to ask the cabinet makers before asking for quotes. I don't like to waste people's time if they're not able to provide the finish I want.

Our cabinets looks great still after 18 yrs but with the flood, all my bottom cabinets are gone along with the pantry and oven wall so I have to replace. I just want to have carefree cabinets like the old ones.

The GC just told me that his cabinet maker finish on site (last coat of paint)? I have no idea what he meant. I got a lot of inflated info from people as I researched contractors. One KD told me the only acceptable cabinets are Amish built or Brookhaven. I looked at Brookhaven. The price was way higher than custom and is made out of particle board vs plywood/ wood.