Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets take a severe beating. From cooking oils, to grimy hands, to spilt water, kitchen cabinets start to look shabby after a few years. You may be thinking of replacing your cabinets, but painting kitchen cabinets is one option you can look into. If you decide to go for the latter, rest assured, it would be much cheaper than replacement. A bargain basement 10x20-ft kitchen cabinet would cost around $5,000 plus the cost of installation.

 
In kitchen cabinets, the panels/doors and drawer fronts are the first to show wear and tear. If you decide to go for a re-facing job, involving replacing of the panels and drawer fronts and veneering the existing cabinet boxes, it would still set you back by about $3,500. For painting kitchen cabinets, materials, such as, brushes, primer and paint will cost between $200 to $300 and a professional painter will cost you another $1000 or so.

You can either contract it out to a pro, or handle it as a DIY job – which will save you the cost of hiring a pro. While not difficult, it is a lengthy process and may take you a few days as the job is carried out in stages. Keep in mind that the paint job cannot hide the basic structural flaws in the cabinets. However, it can do a wonderful job of covering up the wear and tear and small cracks here and there.

The first thing to do is to decide what kind of paint you want to use. Latex or oil-based? Latex paints dry up faster and are more user-friendly. Oil-based paints make a harder, a more durable and smooth surface. Either will provide a good finished surface. Do you want to spray paint or would you like to use a brush? Spraying will certainly give a smoother finish. Have you done it before? If not, will you be able to handle the equipment? A high quality brush will give equally excellent results.

Start by collecting the necessary tools. You will need:

• A pair of gloves, a breathing mask and eye protection.
• A protective sheet or old newspapers to cover a couple of tables, where you will paint the panels of the
cabinet.
• Several paint brushes, rags and/or paper towels for clean up.
• Another protective sheet to use a floor protection, bonding primer, cans of paint to be used for painting
kitchen cabinets.

Dismantling and Preparation

Remove the drawers, panels and all hardware. Hardware includes hinges, locks and metallic handles. Take care to identify them to avoid mix-up and for easy re-fitting after the job is done. Here is where you decide to reuse the same handles or to replace them. Prepare the surface for painting. You may need to strip the old finish and paint right down to the bare wood. This will enable better adhesion of the new paint. You may, alternately, decide just to roughen up the old finish without stripping it completely. This is alright as a short-term improvement. A light sanding and the surface is ready for painting.

If you choose to do a thorough job of it, then the best option is stripping down to the bare wood. Small cracks and nicks can be filled by any non-shrinking putty. After drying, putty tends to become rock-hard, so clean as you go along. Once the putty has dried, sand the cabinets, using 150- or 180-grit paper for a smooth surface.

 
Sand papers, at any hardware store, would cost around $0.35 a piece. Use a soft cloth dampened with a mineral spirit to remove all traces of sanding dust. A 32 fl oz bottle of odorless mineral spirit will cost around $12/$15 at your neighborhood hardware store.

Apply the underbody or primer to the panels and cabinet boxes. You will need to apply two coats each, with a four hour drying time between each application. This is where it takes time, as panels have to be coated on both the sides. Once the panels and the boxes have dried, it is time for the topcoat. Paint the surfaces with steady, easy strokes. Allow a drying time of four hours between each application. Plan to apply two to three coats. Allow at least a day for the paint to dry before re-attaching the panels.

After the job of painting kitchen cabinets is complete, it would have transformed your cabinets and your kitchen. This would not have done much to the cabinet’s metallic handles. They may have lost their original sheen and may not look nice on your painted panels. If you are going for new handles, there is a large variety to choose from.
 

The holes of the new hardware may not match with the old holes in the panels. In that case, while applying putty, you can fill in the old holes and drill new holes to suit the new handles.
Stand back and look with pride at how painting kitchen cabinets has given a new look to your kitchen.

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