what's the percentage of defects? it looks like a redo what product was speced out for the finish?

House paint? Or a professional industrial wood coating?

When I see pictures like this(and you see people with issues like this all the time), I always wonder what the heck some of these small cabinet makers are spraying on their stuff and who taught them to use those products?

I mean, even a correctly done surfacer/primer + all-in-one topcoat consumer grade product won't do this if put on correctly. A 3-stage professional spray job? Forget it, should NEVER happen. Look at that white door chipping right to the wood. Whatever product they put on the bare wood just absolutely let go. A good ol' can of BIN off the shelf at XYZ big box store won't even let go of bare wood like that.

It looks like they didn't prime them, or they didn't sand them properly? I painted cabinets at my old house, lots of sanding and used prime and paint from Benjamin Moore and never had an issue with chipping, scratches or even fading and I scrubbed them quite often. Do you know what wood it's made out of?

The color I chose was from Benjamin Moore, but I was told that they’re using specialized cabinet paint.
What is the common brand used for factory made cabinets?

every shop will use something different. are these the only spots its happening in or is it everywhere ?

It was everywhere.
The pictures are from previous chips, which I had them refinish a few months ago. Those areas are intact , but who knows how long they will last.

For next time, is the painting process differ between small shops vs factories? Is factory finish considered to be more durable?

Small boutique shops can put out much better results than factories production cabinets. You’ll pay for that level of result.

If this is the typical “custom guy” who orders doors from somewhere, drawer boxes from somewhere else, and boxes from a third source? That is not a cabinet maker. And that is not the results of a knowledgeable cabinet finisher either.

You have to do the research to find out their process, and what they used. Right now, those have to be stripped and redone. It would be cheaper to buy new doors and drawers. I‘d just have the cabinet guy furnish you with new doors and drawers as a warranty claim, and find a pro finisher to handle the finishing.

I feel terrible for you. It really looks like those cabinets had a film or lacquer over them and je just painted over it so it won't "stick". My mom did that over hers and peeled all over the place. I used this BM paint btw in case you ever wanna use it in the future. A lot of people recommended it and I'll be using it again for my new cabinets. I don't have a picture of the primer but it was whatever one they recommended to us in store and did 2 coats.

"Small boutique shops can put out much better results than factories production cabinets."

Nonsense. Production shops have climate controlled environments and explosion-proof light fixtures. Small shops often have "No sawin' 'n sandin' today, Bubba, Ima be sprayin'." I've worked in both.

The cabinet guy primed and applied two coats of paint with sanding in between each coat.
The product he used was conversion varnish by Mohawk.
Anyone have had trouble with the product?

What could my cabinet maker possibly do to fix this?!

You should be asking your cabinetmaker.

Obviously I did.

@Ikumi Moriya Conversion Varnish is a two part solvent based product that hardens by mixing the clear or pigmented "paint" with a catalyst. It is a VERY good product IF it is applied correctly, and that is a very big IF. It is also dangerous as hell, and not something most finishers like using on-site in a person's home.

-The catalyst mixing needs to be exact and thorough. Too much, too little, or an uneven mix will fail.

- You have a limited time to spray the product. Wait too long into the reaction process to apply, and you can have failure(although usually this is pretty obvious as it will start setting up in your gun).

- Different conversion varnishes need different primers. Some are self priming. Some use vinyl surfacers, and yet others have a separate conversion varnish primer that itself requires a catalyst mix.

- Most CVs have an exact mil thickness that it is specced to be when it is dry(Dry Film Thickness or DFT). More is not always better. Too thick and you can have failure.

I'd say the highest chance here is a bad mix, it was sprayed too thick, or it was used over an incompatible primer product.

Thank you, that was helpful.
What are the odds that cabinets in both bathrooms have bad mix? The paint has chips and dings everywhere, and I’m assuming that’s not supposed to happen if mixed properly.

At this point, it may make sense to hire another refinisher and have the cabinet maker foot the bill.

chances that the batch is bad highly unlikely. but could happen. most likely an application issue. I would ask for a redo of 3verything. if you are confident it can be done by th cabinet shop

@Ikumi Moriya Let me be clear when I say "bad mix" I mean the person spraying did not adequately mix the catalyst evenly before spraying, or put in too much or too little catalyst, not that the manufacturer made a bad product. I would have to agree that it is the less likely scenario but it is not as uncommon as you might think to have people get overly confident and start "eyeballing" the catalyst and end up screwing it up. In fact, there are all sorts of things that go on in some shops that you'd never imagine you'd actually see in a professional setting, but well, what can I say....that's humans for you.

The areas that were redone are chipping, so I can’t say that I have confidence in them, but I will work it out one way or another.
Thank you everyone, for your input.

best of luck. to you let us know what happens

Join Kitchen Cabinet Painting Experts group on FB. Not only can you get a finish as good as a factory by a small shop, you can get one as a DIYer, with minimal tools. You just need to put in the right work to prep, and buy the right products.