Repainting Kitchen Cabinets

13 years ago

last modified: 13 years ago

Getting ready to repaint my kitchen cabinets white. Can you share some "best practices". I know all about cleaning, sanding prep work - I am looking for something that will look fabulous and keep cabinets looking nice longer. Looking for new & improved idea --- has anyone used a pneumatic sprayer (versus brush & roller). I have read about taking cabinet doors to auto-shops to have paint "baked on". Has anyone actually done that; if so, what was the cost, was it worth it and was it hard to find an auto-shop that would do it or is that a common request. First time I painted I used Porter "oil based" paint - 2nd time I used Behr "latex with primer". No longer a fan of Porter ever since they changed their formula - LOVE Behr with primer paint, however, they don't carry an oil-based. Thanks for any new and creative ideas you may have!

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PRO

Linda Mayo

13 years ago

I've always used pneumatic which of course requires a compressor large enough to handle the air flow. Make sure you have a place all set up to dry the doors before you start. Ironwood is right about pulling the trigger before you hit the door and releasing it after you move to the end of the door. The viscosity of the paint is important and should be thinned if you are using latex. You would have to play with this and the air pressure to get it right so practice on something first and make sure you're comfortable with the amount of finish going on the door. I always did the inside of the door first moving around the door to get an even spray all the way around. Then across the stiles and rails and then around the edge. It will have a tendency to be thicker in the middle of the stiles and rails and dry away from the edges so make sure you hit the edges good or else when you sand them you will sand it off the edges.(If you start with the outside first, it's easier to mess it up as you reach to the inside). I used to use a metal rack designed to hold about 50 doors. In lieu of that you could set up boards stretching the length of two work horses. If there is a bottom brace, you could put a board across that as well. Before you even start to spay, make sure EVERYTHING is dust free in your environment. Including the drying racks and whatever you have set up to spray on, the walls and the floor.I would strongly recommend spraying them laying down since this is a DIY and not something you are accomplish at, since it may tend to run standing up unless you're accomplished and confident about working with the medium and drying time. Make sue you give it sufficient time to dry. It shouldn't leave a fingerprint when you touch it and when you sand in between coats it shouldn't be gummy on the sandpaper. Clean it well after you sand it before you put the second coat on. Use a 220 garnet paper after you have put the first coat on. After the second coat use a 400 grit garnet paper (it's orange) This will give you a very soft finish to be proud of..

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Comments (10)

PRO
Ironwood Builders
13 years ago
Spraying is a tough skill to master right out of the gate. But...don't use pneumatic. Rent an airless sprayer. An airless is designed to spray house paint, a pneumatic cup gun can spray your Behr, but the paint will need to be thinned quite a bit to get out of the tip.
PRO
Linda Mayo
13 years ago
Lay your doors flat when you spray them. Start from the inside and work out. Dry them flat. Lay them on strips of wood or a blank. When dry, turn them over and do the other side. Spray so that you can see it wet. Sand w/ 220 g garnet paper after the first coat. Clean. Then sand with 400 g garnet paper after the second coat. Clean. Then spray the third coat.
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charleee
13 years ago
I used Behr primer plus when I painted all my cabinets, rolled the paint on with a 4" trim roller and they came out great. Two years later and they're still great!

If you are going to lay them flat while they dry, I would use parchment paper under them to prevent the paint from sticking to anything.
PRO
Linda Mayo
13 years ago
Use wooden sticks or a chunk of wood underneath.
PRO
Ironwood Builders
13 years ago
Pro painters use little plastic cups with a conical shape as a standoff for spraying doors. If you lay doors flat you absolutely want an airless. The pneumatic cup gun won't spray horizontals easily, the angle you must hold the gun at gives an uneven coat.
vickyl
Original Author
13 years ago
David thanks for your tips. Sounds like the airless sprayer will give me a more professional look than roller/brush. This will be my first experience at using a sprayer but I will do a bit of practicing first. Ever heard of anyone taking cabinet doors to auto-paint shop to have paint "baked" on?
PRO
Linda
13 years ago
We spray doors upright. We screw in a small hook or screw into the door in a hidden location or use the hardware holes. We use Breakthrough from Pittsburg which dries super fast so you can move the doors immediately. One trick to using the sprayer is use light coats, especially for the first coat.

I know a painter who is quite good with the sprayer and we hire him when we're doing a big project. My partner does the sprayer for small jobs but for bigger projects, I prefer to hire an operator so my partner can run the job. A small kitchen can be done in a day, but a large kitchen takes 2 days by the time you take it all apart, prep everything, tarp off a spray area, and mask everything in the kitchen. If you're spraying the frames, be sure to mask at least three feet past where you expect the overspray to end. Put drops over the entire floor, regardless of how far the person using the sprayer says is necessary.

We have some 2 foot x 5 foot heavy duty wire grids we use on top of sawhorses to get enough space to spread out all the drawers so we can just go down the line once we get started. Sometimes we also use wire closet shelving for our rack space
charleee
13 years ago
Oh! One more thing, please don't paint the hinges. Nothing looks more amateur than painted hinges!
PRO
Ironwood Builders
13 years ago
I use large piece of cardboard to refresh my muscle memory about spray technique...I don't do it often enough to go any other route. One tip about spraying: Don't hold down the trigger and wave it back and forth! Start the sprayer (pull the trigger) just off the side of the piece, go across in one smooth stroke and cut the spray off on the other side. Waving back and forth gives really big build to the areas where you start and finish..twice as much as the middle.